Understand the concept of mass number: The mass number of an element is the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.
Identify the atomic number of lithium: Lithium has an atomic number of 3, which means it has 3 protons.
Determine the number of neutrons: The most common isotope of lithium has 4 neutrons. Isotopes are variants of elements with different numbers of neutrons.
Calculate the mass number: Add the number of protons and neutrons together. For lithium, this is 3 protons + 4 neutrons.