Difference between Atomic mass, relative atomic mass and average atomic mass :-
Atomic Mass :-
- Atomic mass is the mass of neutrons and protons present in the nucleus of an atom .
- It is always calculated for a single element and having direct value
- For isotopes also, the atomic mass is calculated separately . Example :- Carbon 12 , carbon 13 and carbon 14 have different atomic mass.
- The SI unit of Atomic mass is " u" and "amu"
Relative Atomic mass :-
- Relative atomic mass is mean mass of the atoms of an element which is compared to the 1/12th mass of carbon - 12 .
- Carbon - 12 is taken as a relative when we calculate the relative atomic mass of any element
- For calculating relative atomic mass, we need to know the masses, percentage and abundance of all types of elements
- Relative atomic mass is a dimension less quantity
Average Atomic Mass :-
- Average atomic mass is the average mass of an atoms of a particular element by considering it's isotopes
- While we calculate average atomic mass is a standardized number. Whereas, Average atomic mass sometimes varies geologically .
- It also includes percentage, abundance and masses of given element .
- In average atomic mass, We do not compare mean value with the 1/12 mass of carbon - 12
- The unit of Average atomic mass is "Amu" or " u " .