atomic weight
2
3.9
- noun
- /əˈtɑːmɪk weɪt/
- Specialized
:
peso atómico
- A carbon atom has a weight of 12, and each oxygen atom has a weight of 16, giving each single molecule of CO2 an atomic weight of 44 (12 from carbon and 32 from oxygen).
- atomic weight of an element
- high atomic weight
Examples
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Chemists had noticed that the atomic weight of hydrogen, as measured by chemical methods, differed slightly from that measured by mass spectrometry.
Academic text (2012) -
Is the atomic weight of cobalt 58.9?
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OK, so these protons, ones that have an odd atomic weight, right?
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Who doesn't know the atomic weight of fluorine?
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You point out in response that the atomic weight of molybdenum is 95.94.
Blog text (11) -
Yes, that's a good point about the weight of carbon, which has an atomic weight of 12, and carbon dioxide, which has an atomic weight of 44.
Blog text (1) -
The atomic weight of hydrogen is approximately 1.008 atomic mass units.
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Chemists often refer to the atomic weight of an element when calculating its molar mass, which is fundamental to chemical reactions.
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To compare the elements, one should note that the atomic weight of gold is significantly higher than that of silver.
Synonyms
1
3.6
A number that tells how heavy one atom of an element is in atomic mass units
The mass of an atom compared with one twelfth of a carbon-12 atom
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'atomic' (relating to atoms) and 'weight' (heaviness), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to how heavy an atom is. While full technical details (average across isotopes, atomic mass units) are specialized, the core meaning is transparently compositional and parallels constructions in many languages, making it understandable at B1.
Etymology
Atomic weight comes from early chemists who imagined putting tiny atoms on a scale to see how heavy each one was. The word atomic means 'atom' and weight was used to mean 'mass', so today atomic weight refers to the average 'mass' of an element's atoms.