<Li> The nuclear binding energy varies between nuclei . A nucleus with greater binding energy has a lower total energy, and therefore a lower mass according to Einstein's mass - energy equivalence relation E = mc . For Cl the isotopic mass is less than 35 so this must be the dominant factor . </Li> <P> The mass number should also not be confused with the standard atomic weight (also called atomic weight) of an element, which is the ratio of the average atomic mass of the different isotopes of that element (weighted by abundance) to the unified atomic mass unit . This weighted average can be quite different from the near - integer values for individual isotopic masses . </P> <P> For instance, there are two main isotopes of chlorine: chlorine - 35 and chlorine - 37 . In any given sample of chlorine that has not been subjected to mass separation there will be roughly 75% of chlorine atoms which are chlorine - 35 and only 25% of chlorine atoms which are chlorine - 37 . This gives chlorine a relative atomic mass of 35.5 (actually 35.4527 g / mol). </P> <P> Moreover, the weighted average mass can be near - integer, but at the same time not corresponding to the mass of any natural isotope . For example, bromine has only two stable isotopes, Br and Br, naturally present in approximately equal fractions, which leads to the standard atomic mass of bromine close to 80 (79.904 g / mol), even though the isotope Br with such mass is unstable . </P>

Which of the following is the number of protons plus the number of neutrons