Resumen de Correctly Expressing Atomic Weights

Moreno Paolini, Giovanni Cercignani, Carlo Bauer

• Very often, atomic or molecular weights are expressed as dimensionless quantities, but although the historical importance of their definition as "pure numbers" is acknowledged, it is inconsistent with experimental formulas and with the theory of measure in general. Here, we propose on the basis of clear-cut formulas that, contrary to customary statements, atomic and molecular weights should be expressed as dimensional quantities (masses) in which the Dalton (= 1.663 x 10-24 g) is taken as the unit.