Chemical element hydrogen and deuterium). Thus, all carbon isotopes have nearly identical chemical properties because they all have six protons and six electrons, even though carbon atoms may, for example, have 6 or 8 neutrons. That is why the atomic number, rather than mass number or atomic weight, is considered the identifying characteristic of a chemical element. The symbol for atomic number is "Z". Isotopes are atoms of the same element (that is, with the same number of protons in their atomic nucleus), but having "different" numbers of neutrons. Thus, for example, there are three main isotopes of carbon. All carbon atoms
Standard atomic weight publishes "abridged" values (up to five digits per number only), and for the twelve interval values, "conventional" values (single number values). Symbol "A" is a relative atomic mass, for example from a specific sample. To be specific, the standard atomic weight can be noted as , where (E) is the element symbol. The abridged atomic weight, also published by CIAAW, is derived from the standard atomic weight reducing the numbers to five digits (five significant figures). The name does not say 'rounded'. Interval borders are rounded "downwards" for the first (lowmost) border, and "upwards" for the "upward" (upmost) border. This