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Thus, the atomic mass of a carbon-12 atom is 12 Da by definition, but the relative isotopic mass of a carbon-12 atom is simply 12. The sum of relative isotopic masses of all atoms in a molecule is the relative molecular mass. The atomic mass of an isotope and the relative isotopic mass refers to a certain specific isotope of an element.
The atomic mass, on the other hand, is measured using the atomic mass unit based on the mass of the carbon-12 atom. It is denoted with symbols "u" (for unified atomic mass unit) or "Da" (for dalton). The atomic masses of naturally occurring isotopes of an element determine the standard atomic weight of the element.
Carbon (6 C) has 14 known isotopes, from 8 C to 20 C as well as 22 C, of which 12 C and 13 C are stable.The longest-lived radioisotope is 14 C, with a half-life of 5.70(3) × 10 3 years. . This is also the only carbon radioisotope found in nature, as trace quantities are formed cosmogenically by the reactio
Deuterium, 2 H (atomic mass 2.014 101 777 844 (15) Da), the other stable hydrogen isotope, has one proton and one neutron in its nucleus, called a deuteron. 2 H comprises 26–184 ppm (by population, not mass) of hydrogen on Earth; the lower number tends to be found in hydrogen gas and higher enrichment (150 ppm) is typical of seawater.
The relative atomic mass (a weighted average, weighted by mole-fraction abundance figures) of these isotopes is the atomic weight listed for the element in the periodic table. The abundance of an isotope varies from planet to planet, and even from place to place on the Earth, but remains relatively constant in time (on a short-term scale).
It is also the isotope with the lowest mass per nucleon, 930.412 MeV/c 2, though not the isotope with the highest nuclear binding energy per nucleon, which is nickel-62. [7] However, because of the details of how nucleosynthesis works, 56 Fe is a more common endpoint of fusion chains inside supernovae , where it is mostly produced as 56 Ni.
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 .
Other isotopes such as uranium-233 have been produced in breeder reactors. In addition to isotopes found in nature or nuclear reactors, many isotopes with far shorter half-lives have been produced, ranging from 214 U to 242 U (except for 220 U). The standard atomic weight of natural uranium is 238.028 91 (3).