In the field of chemistry, the mole is used as a unit of measurement, specifically it is a unit of mass. This unit makes it possible to refer to the number of atoms in a substance. The concept of a mole can be applied to both atoms and molecules.
The mole as a unit is used in chemistry or chemical engineering. Other related concepts are the following: molecular mass, atomic mass, gram-mole, and Avogadro's number.
To understand chemical reactions it is necessary to know the elementary particles of matter. The basic particles are atoms, which differ from each other. However, these differences are imperceptible, as the atoms are too small.
To facilitate this task, one can start from the following approach: that each kind of atom has a different mass. With this criterion it is possible to distinguish the atoms by comparing their masses. To get this information, a system of proportions must be established between the different types of atoms. In other words, it is necessary to establish the relative mass of the atoms in the form of proportions. To do this, in the 19th century the Italian chemist Amedeo Avogadro devised a system that is still in force today and is known as Avogadro's number or constant.
Avogadro's number allows to specify the number of atoms of a substance
Atomic units are difficult to calculate. Due to this, Avogadro devised a constant that allows us to establish the number of atoms in a substance. Thus, Avogadro's number indicates that 1 mole is equal to 6.022045 x 10 raised to 23 particles. This number makes it possible to encompass the set of atoms of a substance in a single block. In this way, in the language of chemistry one can speak of a mole of oxygen combined with a mole of carbon and both give rise to a mole of CO. In this sense, Avogadro's constant allows to drastically reduce calculations in chemical compounds.
What is molar mass or atomic mass?
The atomic mass is the number of protons plus the number of neutrons. This implies that the atomic mass is equivalent to the actual physical mass of an atom.
If the atomic mass of carbon is 12, this is equivalent to saying that one mole of carbon atoms weighs 12 grams. In this way it is possible to calculate the weight of an atom or the weight of half a mole. Molar mass is normally expressed in grams / mole. In other words, how much 1 mole of an atom weighs.
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