One isotope of carbon (C) has exactly the same mass number and atomic mass since it was used as the definition of the atomic mass unit (amu). Which isotope is it and what is its atomic mass?

Question

Chemistry

Cindy Mcclain

10 March, 18:39

One isotope of carbon (C) has exactly the same mass number and atomic mass since it was used as the definition of the atomic mass unit (amu). Which isotope is it and what is its atomic mass?

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Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Wayne Beasley · Answer 1

Answer:The isotope is Carbon-12 and its atomic mass is 12.

Explanation:

Mass number is the total number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus.

Atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.

An isotope of a chemical element is an atom that has a different mass number but the same atomic number as the element. The difference in mass number is from the number of neutrons (that is, a greater or lesser atomic mass) than the standard for that element.

Carbon-12 is an isotope of carbon it has 6 neutrons and 6 protons, giving it a mass number of 12 and atomic number of 6. Carbon-12 is a stable isotope of carbon, it has the same mass number and atomic number as carbon.