What is the mass of one mole of carbon-12 atoms?

1 Answer
anor277
Aug 5, 2016

1 mol of ""^12C atoms has a mass of 12.00*g precisely.

Explanation:

The mole is the link between the micro world of atoms and molecules to the macro world of grams and kilograms. By definition, N_A ""^12C atoms, i.e. "Avogadro's number, "6.022xx10^23 ""^12C atoms has a mass of 12.00*g.

But wait a minute! When I look at the Periodic Table, it gives the equivalent mass of C as 12.011*g*mol^-1. Why is there a discrepancy?

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