The two are counts and so natural numbers. The set of natural numbers is closed under addition.
There are two main reasons. The first is that the masses of protons and neutrons are not 1 unit but slightly greater. The mass of an atom is the mass of a whole number of protons, a whole number of neutrons as well as the same number of electrons as protons. Overall, therefore, the mass should be greater than the number of protons and neutrons (electrons have very little mass). But some of the mass is converted to energy which is used to hold the positively charged nucleus together. As a result the mass of carbon12 is an exact whole number and that is the only element for which that is true.The second, and possibly more relevant reason is that most atoms are found in the form of isotopes which have different numbers of neutrons and so different masses. The atomic mass listed for an element is an average of the masses of all these isotopes, weighted together according to their abundance of earth.
We can find Atomic Mass and mass number in chemical elements. Atomic mass is about weight of the atom. Mass number is about total of neutrons and protons.
It's because of electrons, they have a relative mass of 1/1836
The atomic number is the number of protons.
what whole number will 8 always divide by?
The mass number is the average atomic mass of all the isotopes that are found in nature.
This is the mass number.
"Atomic mass" is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom. All atoms of an element have the same number of protons. For example, all iron atoms have 26 protons. But while most (90%) have 30 neutrons, there are isotopes of iron that have anywhere from 26 to 36 neutrons. So the published "atomic mass" is the weighted average of the combined number of protons and neutrons. That's why the atomic number is always a whole number, but the atomic mass is a decimal.
Sum of protons and neutrons is the Mass number of the element. The number of protons is equal to the number of electrons. Neutrons and protons are sub atomic particles.
Atomic numbers represent the number of protons in an atom's nucleus, which are always whole numbers because protons are indivisible particles. Atomic numbers cannot be fractions or decimal numbers because they refer to a count of discrete, whole particles.
the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
You can calculate the number of neutrons an atom has by subtracting the atomic number (number of protons) from the atomic mass (rounded to the nearest whole number). Neutrons are the difference between these two values.
The sum of the number of protons and neutrons in an atom is known as the atomic mass. It is equivalent to the mass number of the atom, which represents the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
In order to calculate the number of neutrons, you subtract the atomic number (number of protons) from the atomic mass (rounded to the nearest whole number). Neutrons are important for stabilizing the atomic nucleus alongside protons.
mass no. = no. of protons + no. of neutrons
To find the number of nucleons in an atom, you add the number of protons and the number of neutrons together. Nucleons are the collective term for protons and neutrons found in the nucleus of an atom.
The mass number is a whole number, but the atomic mass may not be. Mass numbers are the total number of neutrons and protons in an isotope (different from atomic numbers, which are the whole numbers of protons only). These are also whole numbers, and for most lithium, it is 7. The mass number is 6 for lithium-6, which has only 3 neutrons. However, the "atomic mass" of an element is measured in atomic mass units, which are 1/12 of the weight of a carbon-12 atom (6 protons and 6 neutrons). Since neutrons are slightly heavier than protons, and there are more neutrons than protons in lithium-7 (3 protons to 4 neutrons), the atomic mass is slightly more than 7.