Abstract
As is well known, the atomic mass of silicon has not yet been determined with satisfactory accuracy. The value given in the International Table of Atomic Weights is 28.06. Practically the same value, 28.063, was given by Baxter, Weatherill and Scripture1 in 1923 from the ratio SiCl4/4Ag. But from the same ratio, figures of 28.111 had been obtained in 1920 by Baxter, Weatherill and Holmes2 and of 28.105 by Hönigschmidt and Steinheil3. Finally, in 1923, Weatherill and Brundage4, from the ratio SiCl4/SiO2, gave the value 28.106. The three of the four modern gravimetric values are in fair agreement and lead to a mean figure of 28.106, which exceeds by 1/610 approximately the figure given in the International Table. This difference, considering the precision of modern gravimetric methods, is too great to be accepted without reservations, and it makes desirable and urgent a further revision of the atomic mass of silicon.
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BATUECAS, T. Atomic Mass of Silicon. Nature 159, 705 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/159705a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/159705a0
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