Chemical element
Whereas the mass number simply counts the total number of neutrons and protons and is thus a natural (or whole) number, the atomic mass of a single atom is a real number giving the mass of a particular isotope (or "nuclide") of the element, expressed in atomic mass units (symbol: u). In general, the mass number of a given nuclide differs in value slightly from its atomic mass, since the mass of each proton and neutron is not exactly 1 u; since the electrons contribute a lesser share to the atomic mass as neutron number exceeds proton number; and (finally) because of the nuclear binding energy. For example, the atomic mass of chlorine-35 to five significant digits is 34.969 u and that of chlorine-37 is 36.966 u. However, the atomic mass in u of each isotope is quite close to its simple mass number (always within 1%). The only isotope whose atomic mass is exactly a natural number is C, which by definition has a mass of exactly 12 because u is defined as 1/12 of the mass of a free neutral carbon-12 atom in the ground state.
Planck constant
The Avogadro constant "N" is determined as the ratio of the mass of one mole of electrons to the mass of a single electron; the mass of one mole of electrons is the "relative atomic mass" of an electron "A"(e), which can be measured in a Penning trap (), multiplied by the molar mass constant "M", which is defined as .
The dependence of the Avogadro constant on the Planck constant () also holds for the physical constants which are related to amount of substance, such as the atomic mass constant. The uncertainty in the value of the Planck constant limits the knowledge of the masses of atoms and subatomic particles when expressed in SI units. It is possible to measure the masses more precisely in atomic mass units, but not to convert them more precisely into kilograms.