The Mole

by Sahana Kanabar

A mole, also known as

Avogadros number, is a unit of
measurement. It is used to
measure atomic quantity and is
based on the number of
carbon atoms in a gram. The
mole represents the number of
particles of a certain substance.

AVOGADROS NUMBER

Avogadros number is named after Amedeo Avogadro, an

Italian chemist. Avogadro was interested in the law of combining
volumes, created by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac. The law stated
that when two volumes of gases react with one another to
create a third gas, the ratio between the volume of the reactants
and the volume of the product is always made of simple whole
numbers. If this were true, than in 1811 Avogadro figured that
equal volumes of any two gases at the same temperature and
pressure must hold an equal number of particles. This idea
didnt gain traction until after Avogadros death, when chemist
Stanislao Cannizzaro developed it further.

The mole allows the quantities of atoms and molecules

to be calculated in an easier fashion as well simplifying
small decimal-pointed numbers. Scientist created a
relationship between the atomic mass unit and the
gram, the number of moles equals the number of grams
in a given sample divided by the molecular mass of the
substance. This means one mole of carbon, whose
molecular mass is 12, would weigh 12 grams.

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