The molecular mass (abbreviated M) of a substance, frequently referred by the older term molecular weight and abbreviated as MW, is the mass of one molecule of that substance, relative to the unified atomic mass unit u (equal to 1/12 the mass of one isotope of carbon-12). This is distinct from the relative molecular mass of a molecule, which is the ratio of the mass of that molecule to 1/12 of the mass of carbon 12 and is a dimensionless number. Relative molecular mass is abbreviated to M_r.

Molecular mass differs from more common measurements of the mass of chemicals, such as molar mass, by taking into account the isotopic composition of a molecule rather than the average isotopic distribution of many molecules. As a result molecular mass is a more precise number than molar mass; however it is more accurate to use molar mass on bulk samples. This means that molar mass is appropriate most of the time except when dealing with single molecules.

Definition

There are varying interpretations of this definition. Many chemists use molecular mass as a synonym of molar mass, differing only in units (see average molecular mass below). A stricter interpretation does not equate the two, as the mass of a single molecule is not the same as the average of an ensemble. Because a mole of molecules may contain a variety of molecular masses due to natural isotopes, the average mass is usually not identical to the mass of any single molecule. The actual numerical difference can be very small when considering small molecules and the molecular mass of the most common isotopomer in which case the error only matters to physicists and a small subset of highly specialized chemists; however it is always more correct, accurate and consistent to use molar mass in any bulk stoichiometric calculations. The size of this error becomes much larger when considering larger molecules or less abundant isotopomers. The molecular mass of a molecule which happens to contain heavier isotopes than the average molecule in the sample can differ from the molar mass by several mass units.

Average mass

The average molecular mass (sometimes abbreviated as average mass) is another variation on the use of the term molecular mass. The average molecular mass is the abundance weighted mean (average) of the molecular masses in a sample. This is often closer to what is meant when "molecular mass" and "molar mass" are used synonymously and may have derived from shortening of this term. The average molecular mass and the molar mass of a particular substance in a particular sample are in fact numerically identical and may be interconverted by Avogadro's constant. It should be noted, however, that the molar mass is almost always a computed figure derived from the standard atomic weights, whereas the average molecular mass, in fields that need the term, is often a measured figure specific to a sample. Therefore, they often vary since one is theoretical and the other is experimental. Specific samples may vary significantly from the expected isotopic composition due to real deviations from earth's average isotopic abundances.