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Home Q & A Board Science-Related Homework Help Chemistry (Moderator: Laser_3)
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bugg bugg
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11 years ago
Atomic mass is defined as "the mass of an atom on a scale where the mass of a carbon-12 atom is exactly 12.0." Why is carbon used for this? why not some other element?
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Leona A.Leona A.
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11 years ago
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11 years ago
I think it's probably because carbon is the predominant atom in life forms! The guys who decided the definition of atomic mass units surely knew that, and why choose some other element, than the one that you are made up of? In other words, it was an arbitrary decision, but this is probably why.
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