The mole concept is a convenient method of expressing the amount of a substance. Any measurement can be broken down into two parts – the numerical magnitude and the units that the magnitude is expressed in. For example, when the mass of a ball is measured to be 2 kilograms, the magnitude is ‘2’ and the unit is ‘kilogram’.
When dealing with particles at an atomic (or molecular) level, even one gram of a pure element is known to contain a huge number of atoms. This is where the mole concept is widely used. It primarily focuses on the unit known as a ‘mole’, which is a count of a very large number of particles.
What is a Mole?
In the field of chemistry, a mole is defined as the amount of a substance that contains exactly 6.02214076 * 1023 ‘elementary entities’ of the given substance.
The number 6.02214076*1023 is popularly known as the Avogadro constant and is often denoted by the symbol ‘NA’. The elementary entities that can be represented in moles can be atoms, molecules, monoatomic/polyatomic ions, and other particles (such as electrons).
For example, one mole of a pure carbon-12 (12C) sample will have a mass of exactly 12 grams and will contain 6.02214076*1023 (NA) number of 12C atoms. The number of moles of a substance in a given pure sample can be represented by the following formula:
n = N/NA
Where n is the number of moles of the substance (or elementary entity), N is the total number of elementary entities in the sample, and NA is the Avogadro constant.
The word “mole” was introduced around the year 1896 by the German chemist Wilhelm Ostwald, who derived the term from the Latin word moles meaning a ‘heap’ or ‘pile. The number of moles of a molecule may not always be equal to the number of moles of its constituent elements. For example, a mole of water contains NA number of H2O molecules. However, each water molecule contains 2 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Therefore, one mole of H2O contains 2 moles of hydrogen and one mole of oxygen.
Related Formulae
The number of moles in a given sample of an element/compound can be calculated by dividing the total mass of the sample by the molar mass of the element/compound, as described by the following formula.
Number of Moles = (Mass of the Sample)/(Molar Mass)
The total number of atoms/molecules in a sample can be calculated by multiplying the number of moles with the Avogadro constant. This formula can be written as:
Number of Atoms or Molecules = (Number of Moles)*(6.022*1023)
The relationship between the atomic mass unit (amu) and the gram is given by:
1 amu = (1gram)/(6.022*1023) = 1.66*10-24 grams
Therefore, the mass of one mole of an element will be equal to its atomic mass in grams.
Number of Electrons in a Mole of Hydrogen Molecule
The number of electrons in a mole of hydrogen molecule is
1 mole of H2 contains 6.023×1023 molecules and each molecule of H2 contains two electrons.
1 mole = 6.023×1023
Therefore the total no. of electrons in one mole of H2 are 12.046×1023.
Solved Examples on the Mole Concept
Some solved example questions on the mole concept are provided in this subsection.
Q.1: How many moles of iron are present in a pure sample weighing 558.45 grams?
A.1: The molar mass of iron is 55.845 g/mol. Therefore, the number of moles of iron in the pure sample weighing 558.45 grams is:
= 10 moles.
Q.2: How many molecules of water are present in 36 grams of water?
A.2: The molar mass of water is 18g (approximately). Therefore, 36 grams of water makes up a total of 2 moles. Each mole has 6.022*1023 water molecules. The total number of H2O molecules in 36 grams of water is: 12.044*1023
Q.3: How many grams of carbon can be found in 1 mole of carbon dioxide?
A.3: 1 mole of CO2 contains 1 mole of carbon and 2 moles of oxygen. The molar mass of carbon is 12.0107 g/mol. Therefore, 1 mole of CO2 contains 12.01 grams of carbon and 32 grams of oxygen.
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