Amount of Substance

5 Parts:

Measuring

Ideal Gas Equation

Types of Formulae

Referencing this Article

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In this article we will be looking at the how, in Chemistry, we calculate and represent amounts of substance and chemical reactions quantitatively.

RAM

1. 1
   RAM

   .

   RAM stands for relative atomic mass (Ar), and stands for the average mass of an atom, relative to 1/12 of carbon-12. This is effectively is the same as the mass number, but averaged out so that the RAM of chlorine is 35.5 because 25% has a mass of 37 and 75% a mass of 35. This is calculated using a mass spectrometer.

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RFM

RFM stands for relative formula mass (Mr). This is the sum of the RAMs of all the elements in a molecule. I.e. it is the mass of the molecule. These two measurements are used in Chemistry because it is more accurate.

The Mole

The mole is a unit of molecules (where it gets its name) to help chemists. A mole is 6.02 x 1023 atoms/molecules. This number is known as Avogadro's constant. A mole of any substance has the mass of the its RAM/RFM, making calculation quite easy. This is the main function of the mole. The following are some examples of questions to help you understand how to use the mole.

• What is the mass of 1 mole of chlorine?
  • 35.5g
• What is the mass of 0.5 moles of lead nitrate, Pb(NO₃)2?
  • 0.5 x [207 2(14+48)] =165.5g
• What is the mass of 5 moles of carbon?
  • =5 x 12 = 60g
• How many moles are there in 4g of bromine?
  • 20 / 80 = 0.25 moles
• How many moles are there in 6.4g of sulphur dioxide?
  • (32 + 16 + 16) / 6.4 = 0.1 moles

Calculating concentrations is very simple. You use the following formula:

The key to getting your brain around moles, is to do lots of practice exercises. You should be able to find these in your textbook or you may wish to get a practice book of exercises.

The ideal gas equation is an equation that links pressure, volume, moles, the gas constant and temperature, for calculations. Here it is:

The units you use to do the calculation are very specific, and sometimes requires some converting to get it to work. Below are some explanations of what they are and how to use them.

1. 1
   Pressure

   .

   The pressure is measured in Pascals, this is the same as Newtons per metre squared.

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2. 2
   Volume

   .

   The volume is measured in metres cubed m³.

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3. 3
   Gas Constant

   .

   The gas constant is 8.31. This number does not change regardless of what the other numbers are.

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4. 4
   Temperature

   .

   The temperature is measured in kelvin. This is a scale of temperature where 0K is absolute zero and it is impossible to get a negative value on the kelvin scale. 273.15K is 0oC.

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There are two types of formula that we use.

Empirical Formula

The first is the empirical formula which is the basic ratio of molecules to each other in its simplest form. You can calculate this as follows:

1. 1
   Find the empirical formula of a compound where, by mass C = 85.7%, H=14.3%.

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2. 2
   Convert the percentages to mass in terms of 100g (85.7g 14.3g)

   .

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3. 3
   Then you divide the masses by the Ar values

   .

   C = 7.1, H = 14.3

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4. 4
   Now you must divide by the smallest number in this case it is 7.1

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5. 5
   So the empirical formula is CH₂.

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Molecular Formula

The second type of formula is molecular formula. This is the actual number of atoms in the molecule.

If you need to reference this article in your work, you can copy-paste the following depending on your required format:

APA (American Psychological Association)
Amount of Substance. (2017). In ScienceAid. Retrieved Sep 30, 2023, from https://scienceaid.net/chemistry/fundamental/substance.html

MLA (Modern Language Association) "Amount of Substance." ScienceAid, scienceaid.net/chemistry/fundamental/substance.html Accessed 30 Sep 2023.

Chicago / Turabian ScienceAid.net. "Amount of Substance." Accessed Sep 30, 2023. https://scienceaid.net/chemistry/fundamental/substance.html.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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