What does the abbreviation 'amu' stand for?
What does the abbreviation 'amu' stand for?
The correct option is B atomic mass unit
Atomic mass unit is shortened to amu. It is a unit we use to measure the mass of atoms.
Atoms are extremely, extremely, extemely, extremely small. So then how do we weigh them? We can't use units that we use normally like grams or pounds. That would become problematic.
So chemists invented a new unit called the atomic mass unit or amu. It is approximately equal to the mass of a proton or a neutron which is around 0.000000000000000000000000016 kg. See why it's problematic? It's that small.
Now, we can just forget such numbers and just say that the mass of a proton is 1 amu. Since the mass of the electron is usually negligible, we can say the mass of the hydrogen atom is also 1 amu. And similarly we can find the mass of other atoms just by counting their protons and neutrons.
atomic mass unit
Atomic mass unit is shortened to amu. It is a unit we use to measure the mass of atoms.
Atoms are extremely, extremely, extemely, extremely small. So then how do we weigh them? We can't use units that we use normally like grams or pounds. That would become problematic.
So chemists invented a new unit called the atomic mass unit or amu. It is approximately equal to the mass of a proton or a neutron which is around 0.000000000000000000000000016 kg. See why it's problematic? It's that small.
Now, we can just forget such numbers and just say that the mass of a proton is 1 amu. Since the mass of the electron is usually negligible, we can say the mass of the hydrogen atom is also 1 amu. And similarly we can find the mass of other atoms just by counting their protons and neutrons.
