Define one atomic mass unit (a.m.u.).

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Jasmine Grover

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An atomic mass unit is defined as 1/12th the mass of a carbon-12 atom. It is a unit of mass that is used to represent the atomic masses of elements.

  • Elements are the simplest substances of matter that cannot be chemically reduced any further.
  • It is difficult to measure the mass of individual atoms as they are so small that the metric ‘grams’ is not practical to use.
  • The mass of one atom of C-12 is 1.99×10−23g.
  • Atomic physicists and chemists, therefore, assumed the unified atomic mass unit (AMU) to describe the atomic masses on the basis of their subatomic particles.
  • The atomic mass unit is also expressed as a.m.u or u (unified).
  • A carbon-12 atom comprises 6 neutrons and 6 protons.
  • 1 amu can be understood as the average of the proton and neutron rest mass.
  • We can represent 1 a.m.u. = 1.67377 x 10-27 kilogram or 1.67377 x 10-24 gram.

Atomic Mass Unit

The unified atomic mass unit is a unit describing the mass of a neutral carbon-12 isotope at rest. Every proton and neutron weighs approximately 1 AMU.


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                          CBSE CLASS XII Previous Year Papers

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