If one mole of carbon atoms weights 12 grams, what is the mass (in grams) of 1 atom of carbon?
1 mole of carbon atoms means 6.022 × 1023 carbon atoms. In this case 1 mole of carbon atoms weighs 12 grams. This means that the mass of 6.022 × 1023 atoms of carbon is 12 grams.
Now, 6.022 × 1023 atoms of carbon have mass = 12 g
1 atom of carbon has mass = g
= 1.99 × 10-23 g
Thus, the absolute mass of 1 atom of carbon is 1.99 × 10-23 grams.