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Chemical formulae, equations

and calculations

When writing chemical equations we often use the

symbol that an element is represented by on the
Periodic table, rather than writing out its full name.
On this page we’ll learn how to write symbol
equations as well as how to calculate the number of
‘moles’ of a substance.

Writing word and symbol equations

Chemical equations can be written using either

words or chemical symbols. With chemical
equations, we often indicate the state symbols after
each molecule or element in the symbol equations to
indicate whether they are in solid, liquid, aqueous or
gaseous form. For example, a displacement reaction
between copper sulfate and magnesium, can be
shown as follows:

Relative formula masses

The relative atomic mass of an element describes

how heavy an element is compared to the mass of
an atom of carbon-12. You can find the relative
atomic mass (RAM) by looking up the element’s mass
number on the periodic table. When we do this, we
see that calcium has a mass number of 40, which
means its relative atomic mass is also 40.

When different elements bond to form a compound,

this will have a relative formula mass which is the
relative atomic masses of the elements in that
compound added together.

Worked example: calculating relative formula mass

Determine the relative formula mass of calcium

carbonate, CaCO3

First work out the relative atomic masses of

each element by looking up their mass
numbers in the periodic table. Ca = 40, C = 12
and O = 16.
Add these together. Don't forget to multiply any
small numbers by the RAM. From the formula,
there is a small 3 written after the oxygen,
which means we have three atoms of oxygen in
the compound.
Relative formula mass = 40 + 12 + (16 x 3) = 100

Not that kind of mole..

Moles

A ‘mole’ simply refers to the amount of a certain

substance. Just like asking your butcher for a pound
of bacon, one mole of an element refers to a
particular amount of that element. It is equivalent to
6.02 x 1023 atoms, which chemists like to refer to as
Avagadro's number, funnily enough because a guy
called Amedeo Avogadro came up with it.

One mole of any element will always weigh the same

as its mass number (or RAM). This means that one
mole of carbon will weigh 12 g and one mole of
calcium will weigh 40 g.

The same thing is true for molecules. Let’s say we

have exactly one mole of carbon dioxide gas, CO2.
We can determine how much this weighs by working
out the relative formula mass (12 + (16 x 2) = 44). So
one mole of CO2 weighs 44 g.

Moles, mass and formula mass

We can calculate how many moles of a substance we

have by dividing the mass in grams of a substance
by molar mass (Mr). Mr is the exact same thing as
the relative formula mass.

MOES=MASS
Mr

t
MASSIN

m GRAMS

Mr
MOIARMASS AMOUNTINMOLES
(ORFORNIVIAMASS)

Worked example: calculating moles from mass and

Mr

How many moles are there in 4 grams of sodium

hydroxide (NaOH)?

• Use the equation moles = mass / Mr

• Work out the Mr (formula mass) by adding

together the relative atomic masses (the mass
numbers). Na = 23, O = 16 and H = 1 so NaOH =
40

• Moles = 4 / 40 = 0.1 mol

Percentage yield

Percentage yield describes how much reactant was

successfully converted into product. In reality,
percentage yield will always be less than 100% due
to a handful of reasons. Firstly, some reactant or
product will be lost when transferring between
containers or filtering, for example. Secondly, the
reaction may be incomplete, with not all reactant
converted into product. Finally, some reactant may
have reacted with a different substance, such as
oxygen in the air, to produce something other than
the desired product.

Percentage yield is calculated using the following

equation:

ACTUALYIFLD
PERCENTAGEYIELD ×100
THEORETICALYIELD

Worked example: percentage yield

In a school laboratory experiment, a teacher

combines sulfuric acid with magnesium to produce
6.25 g of magnesium sulfate. If the maximum yield is
8.5 g, calculate the percentage yield in this
experiment.

• Percentage yield = (actual yield / theoretical

yield) x 100

• Percentage yield = (6.25 / 8.5) x 100

• Percentage yield = 73.5 %

Empirical formula and molecular formula

The molecular formula is the actual number of

atoms of each element in a compound. The empirical
formula is the simplest whole number ratio of atoms
of each element in a compound. For example, a
molecule of butane has a molecular formula of C4H10.
To convert this into a smaller ratio, we can divide
each number by 2. This gives us an empiricial
formula of C2H5.

You may get a question where you're expected to

work out the empirical formula when provided with
masses. Look at the worked example below for the
steps to do this.

Worked example: calculating empirical formula

from masses

A perfume contains a solvents and a mixture of

fragrances. A sample of the solvent used in one
perfume contains 0.6 g of carbon, 0.15 g of hydrogen
and 0.4 g of oxygen. Calculate the empirical formula
of the compound used in the solvent.

Step 1: Find the moles of each element using the

equation moles = mass / Mr.

Carbon = 0.6 / 12 = 0.05 mol

Hydrogen = 0.15 / 1 = 0.15 mol
Oxygen = 0.4 / 16 = 0.025 mol

Step 2: divide each of the moles by the smallest

number calculated. Here, the smallest number of
moles is that of oxygen, with 0.025.

Carbon = 0.05 / 0.025 = 2

Hydrogen = 0.15 / 0.025 = 6
Oxygen = 0.025 / 0.025 = 1

Step 3: write out the empirical formula using the

ratio calculated. Here we can see that for every atom
of oxygen there are two atoms of carbon and six
atoms of oxygen. We write this as C2H6O.

Moles, concentration and volume

We can calculate the moles of a solution when we

know the concentration and volume. The equation
to use is:

The important thing to remember when using this

equation is that volume will usually be given in cm3
while concentration is always measured in mol dm-3.
Before we can calculate moles, we need to convert
volume in cm3 to dm3 by dividing by 1000.

Worked example: calculating moles of a solution

Calculate the moles of sodium chloride in a 100 cm3

solution which has a concentration of 0.5 mol dm-3.

Convert cm3 to dm3 by dividing by 1000.

100 / 1000 = 0.1 dm3
Calculate moles using the equation: moles =
concentration x volume
Moles = 0.5 x 0.1 = 0.05 mol

Molar volume of a gas

One mole of a gas always takes up the same volume

at room temperature and pressure. That volume is 24
dm3 or 24,000 cm3. So if we have one mole of
nitrogen gas, we know that it will take up 24,000 cm3
of volume. If we have 2 moles of nitrogen gas, will
will have double that volume (24,000 x 2 = 48,000
cm3) and if we have 5 moles it will occupy five times
the volume (5 x 24,000 = 120,000 cm3).

This can be summarised in the equation:

Worked example: molar volume of a gas

What volume does 0.6 moles of ammonia gas occupy

at room temperature and pressure?

Use the equation: volume = moles x 24,000 cm

3

Volume = 0.6 x 24,000

Volume = 14,400 cm 3 or 14.4 dm 3

Did you know..

Arsenic (As) is the 33rd element on the
Periodic Table and has been used throughout
history as a lethal poison. Roman assassins
used to smear the element on figs to despose
of their targets. It is rarely used nowadays
since its presence in the body can be easily
traced.

Next Page: Ionic Bonding

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