Question
What is the mass (in amu) of a carbon-12 atom? Why is the atomic mass of carbon listed as 12.01 amu in the List of the Elements with Their Symbols and Atomic Masses?
Step 1
This is because the atomic mass unit is defined as 1/12th the mass of a carbon-12 atom. Therefore, the mass of a carbon-12 atom is exactly 12 amu. This can be written in LaTeX as: \[ \text{Mass of a carbon-12 atom} = 12 \, \text{amu} \] Show more…
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What is the mass (in amu) of a carbon- 12 atom? Why is the atomic mass of carbon listed as 12.01 amu in the table on the inside front cover of this book?
(a) What is the mass in amu of a carbon-12 atom? (b) Why is the atomic weight of carbon reported as 12.011 in the table of elements and the periodic table in the front inside cover of this text?
The atomic mass unit (amu) is defined as 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom. Therefore, a carbon atom with 6 protons and 6 neutrons has a mass of exactly 12 amu. Yet the mass listed for carbon on the periodic table is 12.01 amu. Explain this discrepancy.
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