Using a standardized reference ensures consistency and accuracy in measuring fruit masses, allowing for fair transactions and reliable comparisons.
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The fruit seller uses a watermelon as a standard reference, stating its mass as 12 units. He then compares the mass of each fruit he sells relative to one piece of the watermelon.
The relative atomic masses of all elements are determined with respect to an atom of carbon-12.
One atomic mass unit is defined as exactly one-twelfth (1/12th) the mass of one atom of carbon-12.
The carbon-12 isotope was chosen as the standard reference for measuring atomic masses.
Scientists initially determined the atomic mass unit for oxygen by taking 1/16 of the mass of an atom of naturally occurring oxygen as the unit.
Expressing atomic masses as whole numbers or close to whole numbers makes calculations and comparisons simpler and more intuitive.
Carbon was assigned an atomic mass of 1.0 u, and oxygen was assigned an atomic mass of 1.33 u.
Initially, scientists defined the atomic mass unit (u) as 1/16 of the mass of an atom of naturally occurring oxygen.
The modern unit of atomic mass, as per the latest IUPAC recommendations, is the unified mass, represented as ‘u’ (unified atomic mass unit).