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Thus, the numeric value of the atomic mass when expressed in daltons has nearly the same value as the mass number. The value of 1 unified atomic mass unit in kilograms is m u = 1.660539066 × 10 − 27 k g {\displaystyle m_{\rm {u}}=1.660539066\times 10^{-27}\ \mathrm {kg} } . [ 2 ]
The mass number gives an estimate of the isotopic mass measured in atomic mass units (u). For 12 C, the isotopic mass is exactly 12, since the atomic mass unit is defined as 1/12 of the mass of 12 C. For other isotopes, the isotopic mass is usually within 0.1 u of the mass number.
The atomic number can be used to uniquely identify ordinary chemical elements. In an ordinary uncharged atom, the atomic number is also equal to the number of electrons. For an ordinary atom which contains protons, neutrons and electrons, the sum of the atomic number Z and the neutron number N gives the atom's atomic mass number A.
For example, the atomic mass constant is exactly known when expressed using the dalton (its value is exactly 1 Da), but the kilogram is not exactly known when using these units, the opposite of when expressing the same quantities using the kilogram.
Since protons and neutrons have approximately the same mass (and the mass of the electrons is negligible for many purposes) and the mass defect of the nucleon binding is always small compared to the nucleon mass, the atomic mass of any atom, when expressed in daltons (making a quantity called the "relative isotopic mass"), is within 1% of the ...
In 1803 John Dalton proposed to use the (still unknown) atomic mass of the lightest atom, hydrogen, as the natural unit of atomic mass. This was the basis of the atomic weight scale. [12] For technical reasons, in 1898, chemist Wilhelm Ostwald and others proposed to redefine the unit of atomic mass as 1 / 16 the mass of an oxygen atom. [13]
A given atom has an atomic mass approximately equal (within 1%) to its mass number times the atomic mass unit (for example the mass of a nitrogen-14 is roughly 14 Da), but this number will not be exactly an integer except (by definition) in the case of carbon-12. [67] The heaviest stable atom is lead-208, [59] with a mass of 207.976 6521 Da. [68]
For example, Aston discovered that neon has two isotopes with masses very close to 20 and 22 as per the whole number rule, and proposed that the non-integer value 20.2 for the atomic weight of neon is due to the fact that natural neon is a mixture of about 90% neon-20 and 10% neon-22).