Topic 5 – Amount of substance and the mole

Learning outcomes:
Learners should be able to demonstrate and apply their knowledge and understanding of:
explanation and use of the terms:
(i) amount of substance
(ii) mole (symbol ‘mol’), as the unit for amount of substance
(iii) the Avogadro constant, NA (the number of particles per mole, 6.02 × 1023 mol–1) (iv) molar mass
(mass per mole, units g mol–1)

The mole
 12 grams of 12C contains an enormous number of atoms
 This number is approximately 6  1023 atoms or
600,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms
 This is called the Avogadro constant - a kind of magic number in chemistry.
 It’s more accurately 6.02  1023
 A collection of this number of particles is called a mole

The mole as a counting unit

 A mole is a counting unit. It tells us how many objects there are.
 A pair and a dozen are also counting units.
Pair means 2 objects
Dozen means 12 objects
Mole means 6.02 x 1023 objects
 A mole is such a large number that it is useful only for counting very small objects like
atoms and molecules. A mole of eggs is too many to eat!

The mass of a mole

 1 carbon-12 atom has relative mass = 12.0
 If 6.021023 carbon-12 atoms (I mole) weigh 12.0 grams

What will be the mass of the same number (6.021023 = 1 mole) of helium atoms (relative
mass = 4, so each atom is one third of the mass of a carbon-12 atom)?

What will be the mass of the same number (6.021023 = 1 mole) of oxygen atoms (relative
mass=16)?

What will be the mass of the same number (6.021023 = 1 mole) of magnesium atoms
(relative mass = 24.3)?

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Two important facts about the mole

 1 mole of any substance has a mass equal to its relative mass in grams
1 mole of carbon atoms has mass = 12.0 g
1 mole of oxygen atoms has mass = 16.0 g
1 mole of sulphur atoms has mass = 32.1 g
(These relative masses are given on the Periodic Table)

 1 mole of any substance contains the same number of particles

(6.021023 particles)
Examples of 1 mole
 Carbon has relative mass = 12.0, so 1 mole = 12.0g
 Sodium has relative mass = 23.0, so 1 mole = 23.0g
 Magnesium has relative mass = 24.3, so 1 mole = 24.3g

1 mole of different elements

Each sample in the picture is one mole of the element S, Al, Fe, Hg, P or Cu State what
mass of element is in each dish. How many atoms are in each dish?

Mass of S ____________ Number of atoms of S ___________

Mass of Al ____________ Number of atoms of Al ___________

Mass of Fe ____________ Number of atoms of Fe ___________

Mass of Hg ____________ Number of atoms of Hg ___________

Mass of P ____________ Number of atoms of P ___________

Mass of Cu ____________ Number of atoms of Cu ___________

Counting atoms

What mass of magnesium would you weigh to make sure you had 6.02 x 1023 atoms?

What about if you wanted 3.01 x 1023 atoms?

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Definitions

 Amount of substance is the quantity whose unit is the mole (mol). Chemists use
‘amount of substance’ as a way of counting atoms. (Sometimes called number of moles.)

 A mole of substance is the amount of any substance containing as many particles as

there are carbon atoms in exactly 12 grams of the carbon-12 isotope. (i.e. the amount of
substance containing 6.02 x 1023 formula units)

 The Avogadro constant, NA is the number of atoms per mole of the carbon-12 isotope
(6.02 x 1023)
Summary of relative masses and moles

• Atoms have different masses

• These masses are measured on a relative scale where for

example:
an H atom has average relative mass 1.0 an
O atom has average relative mass 16.0 an
Mg atom has average relative mass 24.3

• 1 mole of a substance is its relative mass weighed out in grams

and this always contains the same number of particles e.g. 1 mole
of H atoms = 1.0 gram of H atoms
1 mole of O atoms = 16.0 grams of O atoms
1 mole of Mg atoms = 24.3 grams of Mg
and all these contain the same number of atoms (6.02  1023 atoms)

• The “magic” number of particles in 1 mole is called the Avogadro

constant and is equal to 6.02  1023
e.g. 1.0 gram of hydrogen atoms ( 1 mole ) contains 6.02  1023 atoms
16.0 grams of oxygen atoms ( 1 mole ) contains 6.02  1023 atoms
24.3 grams of magnesium atoms ( 1 mole ) contains 6.02  1023 atoms

Molar mass

Molar mass is the mass of one mole of substance (units = g mol1 or grams per mole)

e.g. helium has relative mass = 4.0 1

mole of helium has mass = 4.0 g
therefore the molar mass of He is 4.0 g mol-1

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Note that the numbers are the same for relative mass and molar mass but the units
are different

Calculating molar mass

Example:
Write down the molar mass of lithium atoms.

Remember the units of molar mass are g mol-1 (grams per mole) Note
We will give molar mass the symbol Mm to distinguish it from relative molecular mass, which
is given the symbol Mr.
However many textbooks and websites use Mr for molar mass, which can be confusing.

Exercise 5A – Masses, moles and counting atoms

1. Calculating molar mass.

Example: Write down the molar mass of sodium atoms.

Answer: From the periodic table the relative atomic mass is 23.0.
Therefore the molar mass is 23.0 g mol1 (note the units)

Write down the molar mass of each of the following to 1 decimal place:

a) potassium atoms

b) sulphur atoms

c) iron atoms

d) chlorine atoms

2. Calculating the number of grams in a mole. (Note: this is the same as the molar mass.)

Example: Write down the mass of phosphorus atoms needed to make 1 mole
Answer: From the periodic table the relative atomic mass is 31.0.
Therefore 31.0 g of phosphorus would be needed to make 1 mole.

How many grams would make up 1 mole of each of the following? Give your answer to 1
decimal place.

a) fluorine atoms

b) aluminium atoms
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c) argon atoms

3. Calculating amount of substance

Example: What amount of substance is in 39.1 g of potassium?

Answer: The relative atomic mass of potassium is 39.1, so 1 mole weighs 39.1 g
Therefore 39.1 g of potassium is equivalent to 1 mole (1 mol)

Calculate the amount of substance in each of the following samples.

a) 32.1 g of sulphur

b) 16.05 g of sulphur

c) 54.0 g of aluminium

4. Calculating numbers of particles.

Example: How many atoms are there in 23.0g of sodium?

Answer: 23.0 g of sodium is equivalent to 1 mole (since the relative atomic mass
of sodium is 23.0)
Therefore there are 6.02  1023 atoms of sodium in 23.0g

How many atoms are there in each of the following samples?

a) 55.8 g of iron atoms

b) 35.5 g of chlorine atoms

c) 1.0 g of hydrogen atoms

d) 2.0 g of hydrogen atoms

Extension questions

1. Calculate the molar mass of the following:

a) silicon atoms

b) oxygen atoms

c) oxygen molecules

2. Which is heavier, 1 mol of sulphur or 2 mol of carbon? Show your working.

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3. 1 mol of sulphur-32 has mass 32 g. 1 mol of magnesium-24 has mass 24 g. How many
times heavier is 1 sulphur-32 atom than 1 magnesium-24 atom?

4. 1 mol of element X has mass 40 g. The atoms of element Y have half the mass of those
of element X. What is the mass of 1 mol of element Y?

5. Which contains more atoms, 10 g of neon atoms or 20 g of bromine atoms? Show your
working.

6. Some atoms of sodium have relative mass 24. However on the periodic table the relative
atomic mass of sodium is shown as 23.0. Can you explain this?

7. If 1 mole of carbon atoms weighs 12.0 g how much does 1 atom of carbon weigh?

8 . If a piece of copper wire has mass 6.35 g how many atoms are in it?
Calculating molar mass of diatomic molecules

Remember to multiply the relative atomic mass by 2 because there are two atoms in the
molecule

Example:
What is the molar mass of hydrogen molecules, H2?

Calculating the molar mass of compounds

To calculate the molar mass for a compound you simply add together the relative atomic
masses for all the individual atoms in the formula.

Example:
What is the molar mass of water, H2O?

Note that for substances such as water that are made of molecules the mole refers to
6.02  1023 molecules not atoms.

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For example 1 mole of water contains 6.02  1023 molecules but since each molecule has 2
H and 1 O atom, there will be 3 times this number of atoms.

Homework challenge - How big is the mole?

For this challenge you need a 415g can of baked beans. You must
calculate the depth to which one mole of these cans will cover the Earth.
(The radius of the Earth is about 6400 km and the volume of a sphere =
4/3πr3 where r = radius. The volume of a cylinder = πr2h where r = radius
and h = height)

A prize will be given for the first correct answer within one week!

Exercise 5B – Calculating molar masses of diatomic elements and

compounds

Example 1: What is the molar mass of oxygen molecules, O2?

Answer: Since there are two oxygen atoms in the oxygen molecule, its relative mass is 2 
16.0 = 32.0 and its molar mass is therefore 32.0 g mol1.

Note: it is important to specify whether 1 mole of atoms or molecules is referred to in the

case of elements which usually exist as diatomic molecules.
e.g. 1 mole of oxygen atoms weighs 16.0 g but 1
mole of oxygen molecules weighs 32.0 g

Example 2: What is the molar mass of carbon dioxide, CO2?

Answer: The relative atomic mass of C is 12.0

The relative atomic mass of O is 16.0
Therefore the molar mass of 1 C atoms and 2 O atoms is (1  12.0 + 2  16.0)
= 44.0 g mol1.

1. Calculate the molar mass for each of the following:

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 a) sodium chloride, NaCl

b) chlorine molecules, Cl2

c) calcium nitrate , Ca(NO3)2

d) ammonium sulphate, (NH4)2SO4

Extension questions

1. Calculate the molar mass of each of the following:

a) H3PO4

b) Fe(OH)3

2. 1 mol of water contains 6.02  1023 atoms. True or false?

3. 1 mol of magnesium chloride contains 1 mol of Mg2+ ions and 2 mol of Cl‒ ions. True or
false?

4. If 1 mol of carbon dioxide weighs 44.0 g, how much does 1 molecule of CO2 weigh?

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5. How many molecules of water are in a glass containing 36.0 cm3 of water? (Hint: What is
the density of water?)

6. If the volume of 1 mol of any gas is 24 dm3 at room temperature and pressure, what will
be the volume of 128.4 g of sulphur dioxide, SO2?

Group Activity - How many atoms in a nail?

Each group will be given an iron nail. The group must make any measurements necessary
and then calculate the number of atoms in the nail. (Molar mass of iron = 55.8 gmol -1)

Masses and moles

Calculating mass from amount of substance (number of Remember molar mass just
moles) total mass = amount of substance  molar mass means the mass of 1 mole

or
m =
n  Mm

where m = total mass (g) n =

amount of substance (mol)
Mm = molar mass (g mol1)

Example:
Calculate the mass of 0.5 mol of sulphur

Exercise 5C – Calculating mass from amount of substance

Example: Calculate the mass of 0.5 mol of magnesium

Answer:The molar mass of magnesium is 24.3 g mol1 (from the Periodic Table)
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Since
total mass = amount of substance  molar mass Therefore
total mass = 0.5  24.3 = 12.15 g

1.Calculate the mass of the following, giving your answer to 3 significant figures:

a) 2.5 mol of sodium

b) 0.04 mol of water, H2O

c) 400 mol of chlorine molecules

d) 3.2  106 mol of potassium sulphate, K2SO4

Extension questions after moles from mass

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Calculating amount in moles from mass

The equation can be rearranged to give an equation to find the amount of substance from
the mass.

Amount of substance = total mass (g)

(mol) molar mass (g mol-1)

or

n=m
Mm

where m = total mass (g) n =

amount of substance (mol) Mm
= molar mass (g mol1)

The moles and mass triangle

where m = total mass (g) n =

amount of substance (mol) M
= molar mass (g mol1)

Calculating amount in moles from mass

Example:
Calculate the amount of substance in 10 g of water.

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Useful conversions

1 kilogram (kg) = 1000 grams (g) = 1.0  103 g

1 tonne = 1000 kg = 1 000 000 g = 1.0  106 g

1 milligram (mg) = one thousandth of a gram = 1.0  10-3 g

Exercise 5D – Calculating amount of substance from mass

Example: Calculate the amount of substance in 7.8 g of sodium chloride.

Answer:Molar mass of sodium chloride, NaCl = 23.0 + 35.5 = 58.5 g mol1

Amount of substance = total mass molar mass

= 7.8
58.5

= 0.133 mol

1. Calculate the amount of substance (in mol) in each of the following. Give your answers
to 3 significant figures.

a) 24.0 g of carbon

b) 1.0 kg of ethane, C2H6

c) 3.5 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, SO2

d) 0.005 g of glucose, C6H12O6

2. Complete the following table:

Substance Molar mass (gmol- Mass of sample Amount of sample Number of atoms
1
) (g) (mol) or molecules

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 Mg 24.3 24.3 1.00 6.02  1023
Ca 40.1 20.05 3.01  1023
CO2 88.0
H2O 100.0
O2 8.00

3. Calculate the amount of substance (in mol) in 10.0mg of benzocaine, C9H11O2N.

Extension questions

1. What is the mass of 3.6  10 – 3 mol of sulphuric acid, H2SO4?

2. What is the mass of 3.01  1023 atoms of argon?

3. Which has the greater mass, 0.5 mol of water or 0.2 mol of carbon dioxide?

4. Calculate the amount of substance in each of the following samples:

a) 100 tonnes of carbon

b) 3 kg of sodium chloride

c) 50 mg of aspirin, C9H8O4

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Write them in here, transfer them to cards and learn them. Test next lesson!

Amount of substance

The mole

Avogadro constant

Molar mass

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