Atomic mass
The atomic mass ("m") is the mass of an atom. Its unit is the unified atomic mass units ("abbr." u) where 1 unified atomic mass unit is defined as of the mass of a single carbon-12 atom, at rest. For atoms, the protons and neutrons of the nucleus account for nearly all of the total mass, and the atomic mass measured in u has nearly the same value as the mass number.
Mass–energy equivalence
The difference between the rest mass of a bound system and of the unbound parts is the binding energy of the system, if this energy has been removed after binding. For example, a water molecule weighs a little less than two free hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom. The minuscule mass difference is the energy needed to split the molecule into three individual atoms (divided by ), which was given off as heat when the molecule formed (this heat had mass). Likewise, a stick of dynamite in theory weighs a little bit more than the fragments after the explosion, but this is true only so long as the fragments are cooled and the heat removed. In this case the mass difference is the energy/heat that is released when the dynamite explodes, and when this heat escapes, the mass associated with it escapes, only to be deposited in the surroundings, which absorb the heat (so that total mass is conserved).