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Carbon (from Latin carbo 'coal') is a chemical element; it has symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 electrons. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. [13] Carbon makes up about 0.025 percent of Earth's ...
Molar mass: 12.011 g·mol −1 ... Atomic carbon, systematically named carbon and λ 0-methane, is a colourless gaseous inorganic chemical with the chemical formula C ...
For example, the relative isotopic mass of a carbon-12 atom is exactly 12. For comparison, the atomic mass of a carbon-12 atom is exactly 12 daltons. Alternately, the atomic mass of a carbon-12 atom may be expressed in any other mass units: for example, the atomic mass of a carbon-12 atom is 1.992 646 882 70 (62) × 10 −26 kg.
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. For example, 35 Cl (17 protons and 18 neutrons) has a mass number of 35 and an isotopic mass of 34.96885. [7]
The molar mass of atoms of an element is given by the relative atomic mass of the element multiplied by the molar mass constant, M u ≈ 1.000 000 × 10 −3 kg/mol ≈ 1 g/mol. For normal samples from Earth with typical isotope composition, the atomic weight can be approximated by the standard atomic weight [ 2 ] or the conventional atomic weight.
Atomic and molecular masses are usually reported in daltons, which is defined in terms of the mass of the isotope 12 C (carbon-12). However, the name unified atomic mass unit (u) is still used in common practice. Relative atomic and molecular masses as defined are dimensionless.
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.
Carbon-12 is of particular importance in its use as the standard from which atomic masses of all nuclides are measured, thus, its atomic mass is exactly 12 daltons by definition. Carbon-12 is composed of 6 protons , 6 neutrons , and 6 electrons .