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Question

What is atomic mass in detail? What is formula to calculate the atomic mass of atom and how it's formula is made explain in detail?

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Solution

Atomic mass is the total of the masses of the electrons, neutrons, and protons in an atom, or in a group of atoms, the average mass. When compared to protons or neutrons electrons have so much less mass that they don’t influence the calculation. Thus, the total of the masses of neutrons and protons is the atomic mass.

Atomic mass = Number of protons + number of neutrons + number of electrons

Atomic Mass Formula

Chemists have agreed that a neutral atom of the isotope carbon-12 is the appropriate standard. Its mass has been set at exactly 12 atomic mass units. It follows that 1 atomic mass unit is 1/12 of the mass of a neutral carbon-12 atom. All other atomic masses are measured relative to this value. The atomic mass is the mass of an atomic particle or molecule.


With this system, the masses of a proton and a neutron are nearly equal to 1 atomic mass unit, while the electron has a mass close to 0.0005 atomic mass unit. Atomic mass is also called atomic weight. For atoms, the protons and neutrons of the nucleus account for almost all of the mass, and the atomic mass measured in u has nearly the same value as the mass number.

Masses of fundamental atomic particles are often expressed in atomic mass units(u).

"One atomic mass unit (1u) is one twelfth of the mass of an atom of carbon with six protons and six neutrons."
The atomic mass unit can be related to other units of mass using the conversion factor

1u = 1.66054 X 10-24g

Atomic mass = Number of protons + number of neutrons + number of electrons

Method to calculate atomic mass

There are three methods to know the atomic mass, depending on one’s circumstances.

1) Use the Periodic Table!

If it’s one’s first encounter with chemistry, their tutor will want them to study how to make use of the periodic table to find the atomic weight of an element. This digit is typically written underneath an element’s representation. Search for a decimal number, which is the weighted average of the atomic masses of every natural isotope of an element.

2) Sum of Protons and Neutrons

Add up the mass of neutrons and protons to compute the atomic mass of a single atom of an element.

3) For All Atoms of an Element – Weighted Average

The weighted average of every element’s isotopes grounded on their abundance in nature is the atomic weight of an element. It is simple to compute the atomic mass of any element with these tips.

Usually, in these questions, one is provided with a list of isotopes with their natural abundance and their mass either as percent value or a decimal. Multiply each isotope’s abundance by its mass. If someone’s abundance is a percent, they should divide their solution by 100. Add these values up. The solution is the whole atomic weight or atomic mass of the selected element.


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