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Question

Which is a better unit for expressing molar mass, amu or grams/mole ?

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Solution

Answer
While the numeric values are the same the units convey different information.
Explanation :
The term amu refers to the atomic mass unit which is the value of a proton and the value of a neutron in regards to a mass comparison to the standard that carbon - 12 has 6 protons and 6 neutrons
When the designation for the the mass is gramsmol the unit refers to the fact that in 1 mole of a substance there is a specific gram amount.
Let us look at an example of Carbon Dioxide - CO2
The gram mass of of carbon dioxide CO2 can be determined by combining the mass of one carbon atom and 2 oxygen atoms.
C=1×12.01=12.01
O=2×15.99=31.98
12.0+31.98=43.99 grams
This value can be designated as
gramsmass meaning that in one mole (6.02×1023) molecules ) there would be 43.99 grams of CO2
However, if the unit is designated as amu the information informs us that there are 6 protons + 6 neutrons = 12 ma in carbon and 2(8 protons + 8 neutrons) = 32 amu in oxygen for a total of 44 amu in a CO2

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