Chem 16

nd

Long Exam Reviewer

April 2015

STOICHIOMETRY AND CHEMICAL EQUATIONS

THE MOLE CONCEPT
The mole (mol) is the standard unit for
amount of substance and contains
Avogadros number (6.022 x 1023) of
chemical entities (atoms, molecules, ions,
etc.)
Stoichiometry is the study of the
quantitative aspects of chemical formulas
and reactions
The molar mass of a substance is the
mass of one mole of atoms of a pure
element in grams and is equal to the
atomic weight of the element in atomic
mass units
o The molar mass of a compound is the
sum of the molar masses of the atoms
of the elements in the formula

o Ex. 1 molecule of H2O weighs 18.02

amu and 1 mole of H2O weighs 18.02 g
Amount (mol), mass (g) and number of
entities are interconvertible

INTERCONVERSION
The molar mass, expressed in g/mol, can
be used as a conversion factor for
converting between mass and the number
of moles

In a similar way, Avogadros number can

be used as a conversion factor for
converting between the number of moles
and the number of entities

number of entities, first convert to number

of moles. For example:

MASS PERCENT
Each element in a compound constitutes
its own particular portion of the
compounds mass. Using the molar mass
of the compound, we can find the mass
percent of each element on a mole basis

DETERMINING THE FORMULA OF AN

UNKNOWN COMPOUND
Empirical Formulas
The simplest whole-number ratio of moles
of each element in a compound
1. Find the mass of each component
element
2. Convert the masses to numbers of
moles
3. Convert the moles to wholenumber/integer subscripts
Ex. Analysis of an unknown compound
shows that the sample contains 0.21 mol
of zinc, 0.14 mol of phosphorus and 0.46
mol of oxygen. Our preliminary formula is:

Zn0.21P0.14O0.56
Next, divide each subscript by the
smallest subscript:
Mass and number of entities related
directly to number of moles, not to each
other. To convert between mass and
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Literary Archives Committee

Stoichiometry and
Chemical Equations

Chem 16

nd

Long Exam Reviewer

April 2015

If any of the subscripts is still not an

integer, multiply through by the smallest
integer that will turn all subscripts into
integers:

Molecular Formulas
The actual number of moles of each
element in 1 mole of compound. In many
cases, the molecular formula is a wholenumber multiple of the empirical formula
To get the molecular formula (from the
empirical one): If the molar mass of the
compound is given, divide the molar mass
by the empirical formula mass. This
produces the whole number multiple
which we multiply to the subscripts of the
empirical formula to obtain the molecular
formula.
Ex. The empirical formula for hydrogen
peroxide is HO and its molar mass is
34.02 g/mol

We multiply all the subscripts of HO by 2

to obtain the molecular formula: H2O2

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Stoichiometry and
Chemical Equations