Example 1: Ar of Oxygen (O) is 16, thus Mr of Oxygen (O2) = 16 x 2 = 32

Example 2: Ar of Hydrogen (H) is 1; Ar of Oxygen (O) is16,

Thus, Mr of H2O = (2x1) + 16

Relative Formula Mass

• Compounds can also exist as ions, such as ionic compounds, sodium chloride
containing Na+ and Cl− ions and silver chloride containing Ag+ and Cl− ions.
• Since ionic compounds do not contain molecules rather exist as crystalline lattices, the
sum of the Ar of the atoms in the formula is called the relative formula mass (also given
the symbol Mr). The calculation of relative formula mass is the same as above, since the
charge does not affect the overall mass.

Example 1: Ar of Na = 23 and Ar of Cl = 35.5

Thus, relative formula mass/Mr of NaCl = 23 + 35.5 = 58.5
Example 2: Ar of Ag = 108 and Ar of Cl = 35.5
Thus Mr of AgCl = 108 + 35.5 = 143.5

The Mole Concept

Avogadro number (Avogadro constant)
• The mole is the standard method in chemistry for communicating how much of a substance
is present in terms of countable.

• A ‘mole’ is the amount of substance which contains 6x1023 of particles of that substance.
This number, 6 x 1023, is known as the Avogadro number.
The particles may be atoms, molecules, ions or electrons.

e.g. 1 mole of copper atom contains 6x1023 copper atoms.

1 mole of carbon dioxide (molecules) contains 6 × 10 23 CO2 molecules.
1 mole of sodium ions contains 6x1023 sodium ions.

Relationship between mole (countable unit) and the weight

• Molar mass is the mass of one mole of any substance.
• It is the relative atomic mass (Ar) expressed in grams.
• It is the relative molecular mass (Mr) expressed in grams.

(i) Molar Mass of Atoms

e.g. One mole of carbon atoms has a mass of 12 g. (Ar of C = 12)
No. of atoms in 1 mole = 6 x 1023