Name: _____________________________________________ Date: ____________

Mole-Mole & Mass-Mass Calculations

The coefficients in a balanced equation tell us the mole ratio of the different components of the
reaction. For example, the following equation tells us that for every 1 mole of O 2 that reacts, 2
moles of H2O are formed.

2H2 + O2  2H2O

In other words, for this reaction, the ratio of moles of O2 to moles of H2O is always 1:2.

How many moles of O2 are needed to form 6 moles of H2O?

Start with what you are given… 6 mol H2O. Multiply this by a conversion factor (the ratio of
moles of O2 to moles of H2O, 1:2).

1 mol O2
6 mol H2O × ---------------
2 mol H2O

6 × 1 ÷ 2 = 3 mol O2

This should make sense because the ratio of moles of O2 to moles of H2O is 1:2. A ratio of 3:6 is
the same as a ratio of 1:2.

Try the following problems using this balanced equation: CO2 + 4H2  CH4 + 2H2O

1. How many moles of CO2 are needed to produce 4 moles of H2O?

2. If 10 moles of H2 are reacted with more than enough CO2, how many moles of water will
be formed?

3. How many moles of CO2 are needed to react completely with 16 moles of H2?

4. How many moles of H2 are needed to produce 3 moles of CH4?

The equation CO2 + 4H2  CH4 + 2H2O tells us that 1 mole of CO2 is needed to produce 2 moles
of H2O. The ratio of moles of CO2 to moles of H2O is 1:2. Therefore, 2 moles of CO2 would
produce 4 moles of H2O. 3 moles would produce 6 moles. 4 moles would produce 8 moles, etc.

But what if, instead of moles of H2O, we are given a mass of H2O. And what if we are asked to
calculate not moles of CO2, but mass of CO2?

For example, what mass of CO2 is needed to produce 45 grams of H2O?

The balanced equation tells us the mole ratio of CO2 to H2O, not the mass ratio. Therefore, we
need to convert the mass of water we are given (45 grams) to moles of water. We do this by
multiplying by a conversion factor relating mass of water to moles of water. The mass of 1 mole
of water is 18 g (1 + 1 + 16). So…

1 mol H2O
45 g H2O × --------------- = 2.5 mol H2O
18 g H2O

We can now use the ratio of CO2 to H2O from the balanced equation (1:2) to calculate the
number of moles of CO2 needed to produce 2.5 moles of H2O.

1 mol H2O 1 mol CO2

45 g H2O × --------------- × --------------- Notice there is no need to calculate answers
18 g H2O 2 mol H2O at every step.

Now that we have moles of CO2, it is easy to calculate the corresponding mass of CO2. We just
need to multiply by a conversion factor relating mass of CO 2 to moles of CO2.

1 mol H2O 1 mol CO2 44 g CO2

45 g H2O × --------------- × --------------- × ---------------
18 g H2O 2 mol H2O 1 mol CO2

Now, doing all the math in one step (45 ÷ 18 ÷ 2 × 44) gives us the answer… 55 g CO 2

5. What mass of CO2 is needed to produce 127.35 g H2O?

6. What mass of H2 is needed to produce 83.1 g H2O?

7. What mass of H2 is needed to produce 86.7 g CH4?