What Is a Mass Number?

Mass number refers to the value obtained by adding the approximate integer values of the relative masses of all protons and neutrons in an atom to a neutral atom. Since the relative masses of a proton and a neutron are both approximately 1, the mass number (A) = the number of protons (Z) + the number of neutrons (N).

Mass number is

In many chemical calculations, the approximate integer of the mass is used instead of the calculation, which provides calculation convenience within the allowable error range. Contemporary science and technology has mass spectrometry, high-performance liquid phase and other techniques to determine the mass of a compound. ^[2-4]