Why is atomic mass of chlorine taken as $35.5 u$ and not a whole number like $35 u$ or $36 u$ ? Explain.

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Solution

This is because of something called isotopes. Isotopes are variants of a particular chemical element which differ in neutron number, and consequently in nucleon number.
All isotopes of a given element have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in each atom. Hence elemental chlorine has been given the relative atomic mass of 35.5 u

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Why is atomic mass of chlorine taken as 35.5 u and not a whole number like 35 u or 36 u? Explain.

Why is atomic mass of chlorine taken as $35.5 u$ and not a whole number like $35 u$ or $36 u$ ? Explain.