Atom
The actual mass of an atom at rest is often expressed using the unified atomic mass unit (u), also called dalton (Da). This unit is defined as a twelfth of the mass of a free neutral atom of carbon-12, which is approximately . Hydrogen-1 (the lightest isotope of hydrogen which is also the nuclide with the lowest mass) has an atomic weight of 1.007825 u. The value of this number is called the atomic mass. A given atom has an atomic mass approximately equal (within 1%) to its mass number times the atomic mass unit (for example the mass of a nitrogen-14 is roughly 14 u). However, this number will not be exactly an integer except in the case of carbon-12 (see below). The heaviest stable atom is lead-208, with a mass of .
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.