CHEMICAL FORMULAE

AND EQUATIONS

1. RELATIVE ATOMIC MASS

AND RELATIVE MOLECULAR MASS

RELATIVE ATOMIC MASS (AR)

Mass of atom compared to the mass of standard atom
AR based on Hydrogen atom AR based on Carbon-12 atom

Relative Atomic Mass = Average mass of an atom of the element Mass of 1 hydrogen atom

Relative Atomic Mass = Average mass of an atom of the element Mass of 1/12 of carbon 12 atom

AR based on Carbon-12 atom

Example : AR of sodium is 23 Definition: The average mass of one sodium atom is 23 times more than the mass of one twelfth of a carbon-12 atom.

The ratio of the actual masses of atoms can be determined by comparing relative atomic masses. Example : How many atoms of helium has the same mass of 3 atoms of carbons? (AR of C: 12, He : 4)

RELATIVE MOLECULAR MASS (MR)

Relative Atomic Mass

Average mass of molecule Mass of 1/12 of carbon atom

Mr is calculated by adding up the Ar of all the atoms present in a molecule of the substance.

Example of relative molecular masses of some substances:

Substance Molecular Formula H2 Relative Molecular Mass, MR 2x1=2

Hydrogen gas

Oxygen gas
Carbon dioxide

O2
CO2

2 x 16 = 32
12 + (2 x 16) = 44

Water

H2O

(2 x 1) + 16 =18

( AR : H;1, C;12 , 0:16 )

RELATIVE FORMULA MASS (FR)

The term of Relative Molecular Mass is only used for substances that are made up of molecules. Relative Formula Mass (FR) is used for ionic compound. Example of Relative Formula Masses of some ionic compound:
Substance Sodium chloride Potassium oxide Zinx Nitrate Molecular Formula NaCl K2O Zn(NO3)2 Relative Formula Mass (FR) 23 + 35.5 = 58.5 (2 x 39) + 16 = 94 65 + 2 [14 + (3 x16)] = 189

2. THE MOLES
AND THE NUMBER OF

PARTICLES

The Moles And The Number Of Particles

In chemistry, the unit mole (mol) is used to measure the amount/number of particles in substance (atoms, molecules or ions). One mole: The amount of substances that contains as many as the number of atoms exactly 12g of carbon-12, which are 6.02 x 1023 particles. Known as Avogadro constant or number (NA).

The particles in the substances can be atoms, molecules or ions.

Substance Atomic substance: 1 mole of zinc (Zn) Molecular substance: 1 mole of water (H2O) Ionic substance: 1 mole of sodium oxide (Na2O) No. of particle Number of atoms = 6.02 x 1023 zinc atoms Number of molecules = 6.02 x 1023 H2O molecules Number of formula units = 6.02 x 1023 formula units of (Na2O)

By using the following formula, the number of particles in any number of moles of substances can be calculated and vice versa. Number of moles
x NA
NA

Number of particles

Example: Calculate the number of atoms and molecules in 0.5 mol of oxygen gas. Calculate number of ions in 0.2mol of KBr. How many moles of water contains 3.01 x 1022 water molecules?