Mass Number

Mass number, often represented by the symbol A, the total number of nucleons (neutrons and protons) in the nucleus of an atom. All atoms of a chemical element have the same atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus) but may have different mass numbers (from having different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus). Atoms of an element with the same mass number make up an isotope of the element. Different isotopes of the same element cannot have the same mass number, but isotopes of different elements often do have the same mass number, e.g., carbon-14 (6 protons and 8 neutrons) and nitrogen-14 (7 protons and 7 neutrons).

Atomic Mass Unit

Atomic mass unit or amu, in chemistry and physics, unit defined as exactly 1-12 the mass of an atom of carbon-12, the isotope of carbon with six protons and six neutrons in its nucleus. One amu is equal to approximately 1.66 × 10⁻²⁴ grams.

Atomic Mass

Atomic mass, the mass of a single atom, usually expressed in atomic mass units (amu). Most of the mass of an atom is concentrated in the protons and neutrons contained in the nucleus. Each proton or neutron weighs about 1 amu, and thus the atomic mass is always very close to the mass number (total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus). Atoms of an isotope of an element all have the same atomic mass. Atomic masses are usually determined by mass spectrography (see mass spectrograph). They have been determined with great relative accuracy, but their absolute value is less certain.

Atomic Weight

Atomic weight, mean (weighted average) of the masses of all the naturally occurring isotopes of a chemical element, as contrasted with atomic mass, which is the mass of any individual isotope. Although the first atomic weights were calculated at the beginning of the 19th cent., it was not until the discovery of isotopes by F. Soddy (c.1913) that the atomic mass of many individual isotopes was determined, leading eventually to the adoption of the atomic mass unit as the standard unit of atomic weight.

Effect of Isotopes in Calculating Atomic Weight

Most naturally occurring elements have one principal isotope and only insignificant amounts of other isotopes. Therefore, since the atomic mass of any isotope is very nearly a whole number, most atomic weights are nearly whole numbers, e.g., hydrogen has atomic weight 1.00797 and nitrogen has atomic weight 14.007. However, some elements have more than one principal isotope, and the atomic weight for such an element—since it is a weighted average—is not close to a whole number; e.g., the two principal isotopes of chlorine have atomic masses very nearly 35 and 37 and occur in the approximate ratio 3 to 1, so the atomic weight of chlorine is about 35.5. Some other common elements whose atomic weights are not nearly whole numbers are antimony, barium, boron, bromine, cadmium, copper, germanium, lead, magnesium, mercury, nickel, strontium, tin, and zinc.

Atomic weights were formerly determined directly by chemical means; now a mass spectrograph is usually employed. The atomic mass and relative abundance of the isotopes of an element can be measured very accurately and with relative ease by this method, whereas chemical determination of the atomic weight of an element requires a careful and precise quantitative analysis of as many of its compounds as possible.

Development of the Concept of Atomic Weight

J. L. Proust formulated (1797) what is now known as the law of definite proportions, which states that the proportions by weight of the elements forming any given compound are definite and invariable. John Dalton proposed (c.1810) an atomic theory in which all atoms of an element have exactly the same weight. He made many measurements of the combining weights of the elements in various compounds. By postulating that simple compounds always contain one atom of each element present, he assigned relative atomic weights to many elements, assigning a weight of 1 to hydrogen as the basis of his scale. He thought that water had the formula HO, and since he found by experiment that 8 weights of oxygen combine with 1 weight of hydrogen, he assigned an atomic weight of 8 to oxygen. Dalton also formulated the law of multiple proportions, which states that when two elements combine in more than one proportion by weight to form two or more distinct compounds, their weight proportions in those compounds are related to one another in simple ratios. Dalton's work sparked an interest in determining atomic weights, even though some of his results—such as that for oxygen—were soon shown to be incorrect.

While Dalton was working on weight relationships in compounds, J. L. Gay-Lussac was experimenting with the chemical reactions of gases, and he found that, when under the same conditions of temperature and pressure, gases react in simple whole-number ratios by volume. Avogadro proposed (1811) a theory of gases that holds that equal volumes of two gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of particles, and that these basic particles are not always single atoms. This theory was rejected by Dalton and many other chemists.

P. L. Dulong and A. T. Petit discovered (1819) a specific-heat method for determining the approximate atomic weight of elements. Among the first chemists to work out a systematic group of atomic weights (c.1830) was J. J. Berzelius, who was influenced in his choice of formulas for compounds by the method of Dulong and Petit. He attributed the formula H₂O to water and determined an atomic weight of 16 for oxygen. J. S. Stas later refined many of Berzelius's weights. Stanislao Cannizzaro applied Avogadro's theories to reconcile atomic weights used by organic and inorganic chemists.

The availability of fairly accurate atomic weights and the search for some relationship between atomic weight and chemical properties led to J. A. R. Newlands's table of "atomic numbers" (1865), in which he noted that if the elements were arranged in order of increasing atomic weight "the eighth element, starting from a given one, is a kind of repetition of the first." He called this the law of octaves. Such investigations led to the statement of the periodic law, which was discovered independently (1869) by D. I. Mendeleev in Russia and J. L. Meyer in Germany. T. W. Richards did important work on atomic weights (after 1883) and revised some of Stas's values.

isotope

Isotope, in chemistry and physics, one of two or more atoms having the same atomic number but differing in atomic weight and mass number. The concept of isotope was introduced by F. Soddy in explaining aspects of radioactivity; the first stable isotope (of neon) was discovered by J. J. Thomson. The nuclei of isotopes contain identical numbers of protons, equal to the atomic number of the atom, and thus represent the same chemical element, but do not have the same number of neutrons. Thus isotopes of a given element have identical chemical properties but slightly different physical properties and very different half-lives, if they are radioactive (see half-life). For most elements, both stable and radioactive isotopes are known. Radioactive isotopes of many common elements, such as carbon and phosphorus, are used as tracers in medical, biological, and industrial research. Their radioactive nature makes it possible to follow the substances in their paths through a plant or animal body and through many chemical and mechanical processes; thus a more exact knowledge of the processes under investigation can be obtained. The very slow and regular transmutations of certain radioactive substances, notably carbon-14, make them useful as "nuclear clocks" for dating archaeological and geological samples. By taking advantage of the slight differences in their physical properties, the isotopes may be separated. The mass spectrograph uses the slight difference in mass to separate different isotopes of the same element. Depending on their nuclear properties, the isotopes thus separated have important applications in nuclear energy. For example, the highly fissionable isotope uranium-235 must be separated from the more plentiful isotope uranium-238 before it can be used in a nuclear reactor or atomic bomb.

mass spectrograph

Mass spectrograph, device used to separate electrically charged particles according to their masses; a form of the instrument known as a mass spectrometer is often used to measure the masses of isotopes of elements. J. J. Thomson and F. W. Aston showed (c.1900) that magnetic and electric fields can be used to deflect streams of charged particles traveling in a vacuum, and that the degree of bending depends on the masses and electric charges of the particles. In the mass spectrograph the particles, in the form of ions, pass through deflecting fields (produced by carefully designed magnetic pole pieces and electrodes) and are detected by photographic plates. The beam of ions first passes through a velocity selector, consisting of a combination of electric and magnetic fields that eliminates all particles except those of a given velocity. The remaining ion beam then enters an evacuated chamber where a magnetic field bends it into a semicircular path ending at the photographic plate. The radius of this path depends upon the mass of the particles (all other factors, such as velocity and charge, being equal). Thus, if in the original stream isotopes of various masses are present, the position of the blackened spots on the plate makes possible a calculation of the isotope masses. The mass spectrograph is widely used in chemical analysis and in the detection of impurities.

prism

Prism, in optics, a piece of translucent glass or crystal used to form a spectrum of light separated according to colors. Its cross section is usually triangular. The light becomes separated because different wavelengths or frequencies are refracted (bent) by different amounts as they enter the prism obliquely and again as they leave it (see refraction). The shorter wavelengths, toward the blue or violet end of the spectrum, are refracted by the greatest amount; the longer wavelengths, toward the red end, are refracted the least. The Nicol prism is a special type of prism made of calcite; it is used for polarization of light.