# Atomic Mass Of Oxygen

### When the mass number of oxygen is 16, how many neutrons does oxygen have in its nucleus?

Atomic mass of an element is the relative mass of its atom as compared with the mass of a carbon-12 atom taken as 12 units.Hence, atomic mass of oxygen is 16 u means that one atom of oxygen is 16 times heavier than 1/12 of a carbon-12 atom. Atomic mass of Oxygen is 15.9994 u. The atomic mass is the mass of an atom. The atomic mass or relative isotopic mass refers to the mass of a single particle, and therefore is tied to a certain specific isotope of an element. Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe and makes up nearly 21% of the earth's atmosphere. Oxygen accounts for nearly half of the mass of the earth's crust, two thirds of the mass of the human body and nine tenths of the mass of water. What is the atomic mass of oxygen? The atomic mass of oxygen is 15.999 AMU. The complete form of AMU is the atomic mass unit. Oxygen was isolated by Michael Sendivogius before 1604, but it is generally believed that the element was discovered independently by Carl Wilhelm Scheele in the laboratory in 1773 or earlier, and in 1774.

#### Explanation:

Mass number equals number of sub atomic particles in the nucleus.

Atomic number gives the number of protons, which equals the number of electrons. The atomic number for oxygen is 8, so the atom has 8 electrons and 8 protons.

## Atomic Mass Of Oxygen-17

Protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus, so the number of neutrons is found by subtracting the proton number from the mass number I.e. 16 - 8 = 8

Oxygen exists in isotopic form and has an isotope with mass number 18. This atom will have 10 neutrons as 18 - 8 = 10

#### Explanation:

Oxygen has an atomic number of $8$, and the mass number of an atom is the sum of its atomic number plus its neutron number.

## Oxygen Periodic Table

We got the mass as $16$ units, and so it'll have $16 - 8 = 8$ neutrons.