The most common natural carbon isotope, of mass 12. It is the basis for the accepted scale of atomic mass units.
Example sentencesExamples
- In 1961 the isotope carbon-12 was selected to replace oxygen as the standard relative to which the atomic weights of all the other elements are measured.
- All life needs Carbon 12 to live, all plants and animals.
- The variability of the carbon-13/carbon-12 ratio in honeys was evaluated preliminary to use of the ratio to detect the addition of high-fructose corn syrup.