The mass of a mole of carbon atoms is 12.011 grams. What is the mass of a single atom of carbon?

• A. 12.011 grams
• B. 6.022 × 10^{-23} grams
• C. 1.996 × 10^{-23} grams
• D. 2.000 × 10^{-22} grams

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the given information: the mass of one mole of carbon atoms is 12.011 grams. Recall that one mole contains Avogadro's number of atoms, which is approximately \$6.022 \times 10^{23}$ atoms.
2. Understand that to find the mass of a single carbon atom, you need to divide the total mass of one mole by the number of atoms in one mole.
3. Set up the calculation using the formula: \(\text{mass of one atom} = \frac{\text{mass of one mole}}{\text{Avogadro's number}}\).
4. Substitute the known values into the formula: \(\text{mass of one atom} = \frac{12.011 \text{ grams}}{6.022 \times 10^{23}}\).
5. Perform the division to find the mass of a single carbon atom in grams (note: do not calculate the final value here, just understand the process).