Question

Point out the difference between 12 g of carbon and 12 u of carbon.

Answer 1

1. 12 g of carbon:
   1. 12 g of carbon is the total weight of carbon in terms of gram atomic mass.
   2. The total mass of an atom of a substance or element is called its gram atomic mass.
   3. This is equal to one mole of carbon.
   4. It is represented in grams and has the symbol ‘g’
2. 12 u of carbon:
   1. 12u of Carbon is the weight of C-12 expressed as relative mass.
   2. Relative mass is a quantity used to express the mass of an element.
   3. This indicates that the molar mass of carbon is 12 and 12g of carbon will make one mole.
   4. It is represented by ‘u’. 1u = 1.66 × 10⁻²⁴g. Therefore, 12g should be used instead of 12u, because 12u refers to the mass of a single carbon atom, while 12g represents one mole of carbon, which contains 6.022 × 10²³ atoms.