Mass number
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The mass number (A), also called atomic mass number or nucleon number, is the number of protons plus the number of neutrons in an atomic nucleus. The mass number is unique for each isotope of an element and is written either after the element name or as a superscript to the left of an element's symbol. For example, carbon-12 (12C) has 6 protons and 6 neutrons. The full isotope symbol would also have the atomic number (Z) as a subscript to the left of the element symbol directly below the mass number: <math>{}_{6}^{12}\mathrm{C}</math>. Note that this is redundant, as there is a one-to-one mapping between atomic number and element symbol, so it is rarely used, except when we want to clarify the number of protons in a nucleus, such as in atomic reactions.
The difference between the mass number and the atomic number (<math>A-Z</math>) gives the number of neutrons in a given nucleus.
For example: Carbon-14 is created from Nitrogen-14 with seven protons and seven neutrons via a cosmic ray interaction which changes 1 proton into 1 neutron. Thus the atomic number decreases by 1 (Z:7->6) and the mass number remains the same (A = 14), however the number of neutrons increases by 1.
- Before: Nitrogen-14 (7p, 7n)
- After: Carbon-14 (6p, 8n).
Template:Chem-stubar:عدد الكتلة br:Niver mas cs:Nukleonové číslo de:Massenzahl et:Massiarv fr:Nombre de masse is:Massatala it:Numero di massa he:מספר מסה nl:Massagetal ja:質量数 pl:Liczba masowa pt:Número de massa ru:Массовое число sk:Nukleónové číslo sl:Masno število fi:Massaluku sv:Masstal