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dalton

dalton

1 7.4
A small unit for measuring the mass of atoms and molecules
  • noun
  • /ˈdɔltən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : dalton
  • With a molecular weight of only 14.7 kilodaltons (1 dalton = 1 atomic mass unit), these dimers are among the smallest proteins imaged by any kind of microscopy.

Examples

  • Both protons and neutrons have weights very close to 1 dalton each.

  • Not all daltons is like us.

  • So this is a complex it's several million daltons in in its in its size.

  • But pa used to have a saying, "daltons die slow."

  • The god damn daltons!

  • Proteins, for example, can range from a few thousand atomic mass units (daltons), such as for the hormone insulin, to more than 5 million Da for large enzyme complexes.

    Academic text (2002)
  • A dalton is defined as 1/12 the weight of an atom of carbon-12.

  • The cutoff in size for the immune system to recognize something as foreign is about 10,000 daltons in weight.

Synonyms

atomic mass unit
vsdalton
  • Specialized
3.9

A small unit for mass used to measure atoms and molecules

has identical meaning but is the alternative unit name

Surface Forms

dalton singular
daltons plural

Etymology

Dalton is named after the English scientist John Dalton, who studied 'atoms' and their 'weights' in the early 1800s. A helpful way to remember it is to think of one dalton as the mass of a single small atom, and hydrogen is close to one. That's why the word is used as a unit to measure how heavy atoms and molecules are.