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.
Molar mass constant
The molar mass constant is unusual (but not unique) among physical constants by having an exactly defined value rather than being measured experimentally. It is fixed by the definitions of the mole and of relative atomic mass. From the definition of the mole, the molar mass of carbon 12 is exactly 12 g/mol. From the definition of relative atomic mass, the relative atomic mass of carbon 12, that is the atomic weight of a sample of pure carbon 12, is exactly 12. The molar mass constant is given by
The speed of light, the electric constant and the magnetic constant are other examples of physical constants whose values are fixed by the definitions of the International System of Units (SI), in these cases by the definitions of the metre and the ampere.