Atomic Mass

The average mass of one atom, in atomic mass units — driven almost entirely by proton and neutron count.

See atomic mass colored on the interactive table →

Across a period (left → right)

Rises steadily left to right (each element has one more proton, and generally more neutrons).

Down a group (top → bottom)

Rises steadily down a group.

Why it happens

This is the most straightforward trend on this page: atomic mass is overwhelmingly determined by the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, and both of those simply increase as atomic number increases — there's no competing effect the way there is with radius or ionization energy. It climbs almost monotonically from hydrogen through oganesson.

Elements mentioned on this page