The unified atomic mass unit u is defined as 1/12th the mass of a carbon-12 atom. The atomic mass unit (amu) is defined as 1/16th the mass of the oxigen-16 isotope (physics) or 1/16th of the (average) mass of an oxigen atom (chemists). Was there any physical reason for such a definition? No, but there are chemical reasons. Carbon has a mass of 12 amu. Sulfur has a mass of 32 amu. What is the mass (in amu) of a molecule of carbon disulfide (CS 2?). How do you calculate the average atomic mass of carbon if 98.90% of the atoms are C-12 (12.000000 and 1.100% are C-13 atoms (13.003354 amu)? One carbon-12 is assigned as exactly 12 amu. Mass of one carbon-12 atom = 12 amu. Once the mass of a standard atom is decided, mass of other atoms are determined based on their relative weight. For example, the hydrogen atom weighs only 8.40 percent of carbon-12 atom. Then the mass of hydrogen atom is calculated as follows.
Taken from http://www.sizes.com/units/atomic_mass_unit.htm
History of the atomic mass unit
Stanislao Cannizzaro (1826–1910), the pioneer in this field, adopted the hydrogen atom as a standard of mass and set its atomic weight at 2. Others accepted the idea of using a specific atom as a standard of mass, but preferred a more massive standard in order to reduce experimental error.
As early as 1850, chemists used a unit of atomic weight based on saying the atomic weight of oxygen was 16. Oxygen was chosen because it forms chemical compounds with many other elements, simplifying determination of their atomic weights. Sixteen was chosen because it was the lowest whole number that could be assigned to oxygen and still have an atomic weight for hydrogen that was not less than 1.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/mass-percent-composition-example-609567_V2-01-89c18a9d30ea43b494d09b81f7ffefc1.png "Carbon atomic mass")
Zemax opticstudio 15. The 0=16 scale was formalized when a committee appointed by the Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft called for the formation of an international commission on atomic weights in March 1899. A commission of 57 members was formed. Since the commission carried on its business by correspondence, the size proved unwieldy, and the Gesellschaft suggested a smaller committee be elected. A 3-member International Committee of Atomic Weights was duly elected, and in 1903 issued its first report, using the 0=16 scale.5
Taking isotopes into account
The discovery of isotopes complicated the picture. In nature, pure oxygen is composed of a mixture of isotopes: some oxygen atoms are more massive than others.
This was no problem for the chemists’ calculations as long as the relative abundance of the isotopes in their reagents remained constant, though it confirmed that oxygen’s atomic weight was the only one that in principle would be a whole number (hydrogen’s, for example, was 1.000 8).
Stoichiometry - What Is The Relation Between The Amu And ..
Physicists, however, dealing with atoms and not reagents, required a unit that distinguished between isotopes. At least as early as 19276 physicists were using an atomic mass unit defined as equal to one-sixteenth of the mass of the oxygen-16 atom (the isotope of oxygen containing a total of 16 protons and neutrons).
In 1919, isotopes of oxygen with mass 17 and 18 were discovered.7 Thus the two amu’s clearly diverged: one based on one-sixteenth of the average mass of the oxygen atoms in the chemist’s laboratory, and the other based on one-sixteenth of the mass of an atom of a particular isotope of oxygen.
In 1956, Alfred Nier (at the bar in the Hotel Krasnapolski in Amsterdam) and independently A. Ölander8, both members of the Commission on Atomic Masses of the IUPAP, suggested to Josef Mattauch that the atomic weight scale be based on carbon-12. That would be okay with physicists, since carbon-12 was already used as a standard in mass spectroscopy. The chemists resisted making the amu one-sixteenth the mass of an oxygen-16 atom; it would change their atomic weights by about 275 parts per million. Making the amu one-twelfth the mass of a carbon-12 nucleus, however, would lead to only a 42 parts per million change, which seemed within reason.
Mattauch set to work enthusiastically proselytizing the physicists, while E. Wichers lobbied the chemists.9 In the years 1959–1961 the chemists and physicists resolved to use the isotope carbon-12 as the standard, setting its atomic mass at 12.
Molecular Weight CalculatorThis online calculator you can use for computing the average molecular weight (MW) of molecules by entering the chemical formulas (for example C3H4OH(COOH)3 ). Or you can choose by one of the next two option-lists, which contains a series of common organic compounds (including their chemical formula) and all the elements. The molecular mass calculator will recognize the entered formula's, which are included in the list of organic compounds. !!!Lenntech BV cannot be held responsible for errors in the calculation,
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