Question

if the atomic mass unit was defined such that a single fluorine atom weighed 1amu, what would be the atomic weights of carbon and hydrogen,

Answer 1

0.632195 and 0.053054 amu, respectively. It's interesting that you don't really need to specify the isotope of fluorine, since essentially all naturally-occuring fluorine is fluorine-19.

Answer 2

thank you for the answer but how did you get it?

Answer 3

you get it by proportions, 1/19 is equal to x/12

1/19 = 1/12 is a fluorine to carbon proportion.

Answer 4

I never understood the carbon method either

Answer 5

Divide the atomic masses of C, H and F by that of F. Since you're dividing each by the same number, you haven't changed their relative size -- that is, if C was half as massive as F before, it will still be afterward. Furthermore, it's obvious that the mass of F in the new units comes out to exactly 1. So you are measuring masses in units in which the mass of F is 1 -- which is what you specified.

Answer 6

thank you!^^