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| {{Sugdef|Mass Number and Mass Number|Total number of nucleons (protons and neutrons) in an atom or molecule. Should be called [[nucleon number]] instead of [[mass number]]. Currently the symbol ''m'' is widely used in mass spectrometry. To avoid confusion between the nucleon number and mass, the symbol ''n'' should be used for the nucleon number.
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| The nucleon number ''n'' should not be used in mass spectra because:
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| # [[mass spectrometer]]s measure mass/charge and not the number of nucleons nor the number of nucleons/charge
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| # the number of nucleons ''n'' is a natural number (whole number larger than zero) whereas [[mass spectrometer]]s measure fractional masses.}}
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