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The molecular mass (for molecular compounds) and formula mass (for non-molecular compounds, such as ionic salts) are commonly used as synonyms of molar mass, differing only in units (daltons vs g/mol); however, the most authoritative sources define it differently. The difference is that molecular mass is the mass of one specific particle or ...
The molar mass is defined as the mass of a given substance divided by the amount of the substance, and is expressed in grams per mol (g/mol). That makes the molar mass an average of many particles or molecules (potentially containing different isotopes), and the molecular mass the mass of one specific particle or molecule. The molar mass is ...
The mass of an atom or other particle can be compared more precisely and more conveniently to that of another atom, and thus scientists developed the dalton (also known as the unified atomic mass unit). By definition, 1 Da (one dalton) is exactly one-twelfth of the mass of a carbon-12 atom, and thus, a carbon-12 atom has a mass of exactly 12 Da.
The SI value of the mole was chosen on the basis of the historical definition of the mole as the amount of substance that corresponds to the number of atoms in 12 grams of 12 C, [1] which made the mass of a mole of a compound expressed in grams, numerically equal to the average molecular mass or formula mass of the compound expressed in daltons.
In chemistry, a formula unit is the smallest unit of a non-molecular substance, such as an ionic compound, covalent network solid, or metal. [1] [2] It can also refer to the chemical formula for that unit. Those structures do not consist of discrete molecules, and so for them, the term formula unit is used.
Thus, the atomic mass of a carbon-12 atom is 12 Da by definition, but the relative isotopic mass of a carbon-12 atom is simply 12. The sum of relative isotopic masses of all atoms in a molecule is the relative molecular mass. The atomic mass of an isotope and the relative isotopic mass refers to a certain specific isotope of an element.
The molar mass of a substance depends not only on its molecular formula, but also on the distribution of isotopes of each chemical element present in it. For example, the molar mass of calcium-40 is 39.962 590 98 (22) g/mol, whereas the molar mass of calcium-42 is 41.958 618 01 (27) g/mol, and of calcium with the normal isotopic mix is 40.078(4 ...
For other isotopes, the isotopic mass is usually within 0.1 u of the mass number. For example, 35 Cl (17 protons and 18 neutrons) has a mass number of 35 and an isotopic mass of 34.96885. [7] The difference of the actual isotopic mass minus the mass number of an atom is known as the mass excess, [8] which for 35 Cl is –0.03115.