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Hartree defined units based on three physical constants: [1]: 91 Both in order to eliminate various universal constants from the equations and also to avoid high powers of 10 in numerical work, it is convenient to express quantities in terms of units, which may be called 'atomic units', defined as follows:
Atomic mass is often measured in dalton (Da) or unified atomic mass unit (u). One dalton is equal to 1 ⁄ 12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom in its natural state. Thus, the numeric value of the atomic mass when expressed in daltons has nearly the same value as the mass number.
The new unit was named the "unified atomic mass unit" and given a new symbol "u", to replace the old "amu" that had been used for the oxygen-based unit. [17] However, the old symbol "amu" has sometimes been used, after 1961, to refer to the new unit, particularly in lay and preparatory contexts.
The unified atomic mass unit (symbol: u) is equivalent to the dalton. One dalton is approximately the mass of one a single proton or neutron. [2] The unified atomic mass unit has a value of 1.660 538 921 (73) × 10 −27 kg. [3] The amu without the "unified" prefix is an obsolete unit based on oxygen, which was replaced in 1961.
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]
Older (pre-1961) historical relative scales based on the atomic mass unit (symbol: a.m.u. or amu) used either the oxygen-16 relative isotopic mass or else the oxygen relative atomic mass (i.e., atomic weight) for reference. See the article on the history of the modern unified atomic mass unit for the resolution of these problems.
The mole and the atomic mass unit (dalton) were originally defined in the International System of Units (SI) in such a way that the constant was exactly 1 g/mol, which made the numerical value of the molar mass of a substance, in grams per mole, equal to the average mass of its constituent particles (atoms, molecules, or formula units) relative ...
Before that the atomic mass unit "amu" was defined as 1 ⁄ 16 the mass of 16 O (physics) and as 1 ⁄ 16 the mass of O (chemistry). Thus the publication date in literature ought to be heeded when reading about the milli mass unit as its name does not reveal whether it refers to the old amu or the newer u. The mass excess is usually indicated ...