Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci, 1504. Italian. The Mole in Chemistry Vocabulary: Mole Avogadro’s number Particle: Atom Molecule Formula unit Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci, 1504. Italian.

Moles! What is a mole?

Moles! Yes…but that’s not what we’re talking about here. In chemistry, a mole is a quantity of something, just like the dozen is a quantity of something.

What are some words that mean a certain number of something?

Moles! 1 mole of anything = 6.02x1023 of that thing (In the same way that 1 dozen of anything = 12 of that thing) 1 mol = 6.02 x 1023 particles

This number (6.02x1023) is called Avogadro’s number. Moles! So 1 mole of donuts = 602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 donuts This number (6.02x1023) is called Avogadro’s number.

Where did the mole come from? The mole is defined as the number of atoms in 12 grams of pure carbon-12, the isotope of carbon with an atomic weight of 12. This corresponds to a value of 6.02214179×1023 representative particles (e.g., atoms, molecules, formula units, ions, etc.) of the substance. A mole of any substance is the amount of that substance that contains 6.02213179x1023 representative particles of that substance.

Let’s get some perspective on powers of 10: http://www.powersof10.com/index.php?mod=watch_powersof10

Moles! Here’s some more perspective: National Debt: 19,800,000,000,000 dollars Dist to sun: 5,702,400,000,000 inches Stars in galaxy: 400,000,000,000 stars Cells in body: 25,000,000,000,000 cells 1 mole: 602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 units

Moles! More perspective: In order for us to count out Avogadro’s Number of anything, we would need all of the people of earth (7 billion) to count one item every second for 2.7 million years.

Moles! More perspective: One mole of small marshmallows would cover the United States of America to a depth of around 39 miles.

Moles! More perspective: A mole of rice grains would cover all the land area of the world to a depth of 246 ft.

Moles! More perspective: A mole of hokey pucks would be equal to the mass of the moon.

Moles! More perspective: A mole of baseballs would just about fit perfectly into a bag the size of the earth.

Moles! More perspective: In order to fit a mole of raindrops into a 100-ft diameter tank, the sides of the tank would have to be 280 higher than the distance from the earth to the sun.

Moles! More perspective: If one mole of pennies was divided equally between every person on earth (7 billion people), each person would receive 8.6 x 1013 pennies ($860 billion dollars.) Personal spending at the rate of one million dollars a day would use up each person’s wealth in 2356 years. Life would not be comfortable though. The surface of the planet would be buried in copper coins to a depth of about 425 meters.

Moles! Let’s try one on your own: How tall in miles would 1.0 mole of pennies be? Experimentally determine the height of 15 pennies and use that measurement as a conversion factor. (e.g., 15 pennies = x cm) Helpful conversion factors: 12 in = 1 ft 5280 ft = 1 mile 2.54 cm = 1.00 in

So what volume of water would contain 1 mole of water molecules? Moles! So what volume of water would contain 1 mole of water molecules?

Just 18 mL of water. That’s not much. Moles! Just 18 mL of water. That’s not much. This much.

How many donuts would be in 13.5 dozen donuts? Let’s practice: How many donuts would be in 13.5 dozen donuts? 13.5 dozen donuts 12 donuts 1 dozen donuts x = 162 donuts Start with given amount you are trying to convert. Use appropriate conversion factor. Write answer with units and rounded to proper sig figs.

How many donuts would be in 13.5 moles of donuts? Let’s practice: How many donuts would be in 13.5 moles of donuts? 13.5 moles donuts 6.02x1023 donuts 1 mole donuts x = 8.13x1024 donuts Start with given amount you are trying to convert. Use appropriate conversion factor. Write answer with units and rounded to proper sig figs.

How many moles of copper would contain 3.62x1022 atoms of copper? Let’s practice: How many moles of copper would contain 3.62x1022 atoms of copper? 3.62x1022 atoms Cu 1 mole Cu 6.02x1023 atoms Cu x = 0.0601 mol Cu Start with given amount you are trying to convert. Use appropriate conversion factor. Write answer with units and rounded to proper sig figs.

Notice!! In the last example, I used the word “atoms” in reference to particles of copper because copper is an element and the smallest particle of an element is an atom. If we are working with the particles of a compound, we would use the word “molecules” for a molecular compound or “formula units” for an ionic compound.

Let’s practice: How many molecules of CO2 would be in a 12.82 mole sample of CO2? 12.82 mol CO2 6.02x1023 molec CO2 1 mol CO2 x = 7.72x1024 molecules CO2 Start with given amount you are trying to convert. Use appropriate conversion factor. Write answer with units and rounded to proper sig figs.

Time to practice on your own