Question

What is the difference between atomic mass, relative atomic mass and average atomic mass

Answer 1

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Difference between Atomic mass, relative atomic mass and average atomic mass :-

Atomic Mass :-

• Atomic mass is the mass of neutrons and protons present in the nucleus of an atom .
• It is always calculated for a single element and having direct value
• For isotopes also, the atomic mass is calculated separately . Example :- Carbon 12 , carbon 13 and carbon 14 have different atomic mass.
• The SI unit of Atomic mass is " u" and "amu"

Relative Atomic mass :-

• Relative atomic mass is mean mass of the atoms of an element which is compared to the 1/12th mass of carbon - 12 .
• Carbon - 12 is taken as a relative when we calculate the relative atomic mass of any element
• For calculating relative atomic mass, we need to know the masses, percentage and abundance of all types of elements
• Relative atomic mass is a dimension less quantity

Average Atomic Mass :-

• Average atomic mass is the average mass of an atoms of a particular element by considering it's isotopes
• While we calculate average atomic mass is a standardized number. Whereas, Average atomic mass sometimes varies geologically .
• It also includes percentage, abundance and masses of given element .
• In average atomic mass, We do not compare mean value with the 1/12 mass of carbon - 12
• The unit of Average atomic mass is "Amu" or " u " .