Atomic mass unit
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This article is only a brief description of the subject, and is not intended to give a full explanation.
Check out the "see also" or "references" sections, or Wikipedia's article for more detail.
This article is only a brief description of the subject, and is not intended to give a full explanation.
Check out the "see also" or "references" sections, or Wikipedia's article for more detail.
The atomic mass unit, abbreviated AMU, is a unit of mass used for atomic and molecular masses. The unit is approximately equal to 1.66 × 10-24 grams, roughly the mass of a proton or neutron. Note, however, for reasons only clear to scientists[1], that the definition of the atomic mass unit is 1/12 of the mass of a carbon-12 atom; therefore, the atomic mass of C-12 is exactly 12.0000 atomic mass units by definition.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ 12C is the closest to exactly 12 mass units, being 12.0001 in a more absolute system. Other systems use the hydrogen atom being set equal to 1 was a previous standard
