Chapter 3

Formulas, Equations and Moles

Interpreting Chemical Equations

You can interpret a balanced chemical equation in many ways.

On a microscopic level, two molecules of H2 react with one

molecule of O2 to produce two molecules of H2O
On a macroscopic level, these formulas and equations
represent large-scale behaviors of atoms and molecules that
result in observable properties!
A chemical equation can mean whatever you want it to mean
depending on the context.
Chapter 3 2

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 Moving from Molecules to Mass
A balanced chemical equation is the scientists guide to
the preparation or formation of product compounds.

What does this equation tell us about

the preparation of Ethyl Chloride?
Chapter 3 3

Atomic Mass
The atomic mass of any element on the periodic table is
expressed in atomic mass units (amu)
This value is listed on the periodic table and represents
the mass of a single atom of an element.
This relationship can be used to write conversion factors
For example, the atomic mass of iron is 55.85 amu, so:

55.85 amu 1 Fe atom

OR 55.85 amu
1 Fe atom
Chapter 3 4

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 Formula Mass
The formula mass of a compound is the sum of the
atomic masses of all the atoms in its formula.
To determine the formula mass, you multiply each
elements atomic mass by its formula subscript and then
add them all up.

Chapter 3 5

Avogadros Number
How do we keep track of atoms or molecules?
They are very small, so we group them in a large bunch
We use Avogadros Number (NA) to represent this bunch of
atoms or molecules.
Avogadros Number was experimentally determined to be the number
of atoms in 12.01 grams of carbon.
Its numerical value is 6.022 1023.
Therefore, a 12.01 g sample of carbon contains 6.022 1023 carbon
atoms.

Chapter 3 6

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 The Mole
The mole (mol and abbreviated n) is a unit of measure
that allows us to make comparisons between
substances that have different masses
A mole is Avogadros number of atoms, that is 6.022
1023 atoms.

1 mol = 6.022 1023 atoms

Notice how this mole relationship resembles one of
our unit equations.
Therefore, we can use to write conversion factors to convert
between the number of atoms and the mass of a substance.
Chapter 3 7

Molar Mass
The atomic mass of any
substance expressed in
grams per mole (g/mol)
is the molar mass (MM)
of that substance.

Molar Mass = Mass = m

mole n

If the atomic mass of iron

is 55.85 amu, then the
molar mass of iron is
55.85 g/mol.
Chapter 3 8

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 Calculating Molar Mass
The molar mass of a substance is the sum of the
molar masses of each element present in the
substance.

What is the molar mass of potassium phosphate?

Chapter 3 9

Mole Calculations Grams to Moles

What is the mass of 2.87 mol of sulfuric acid?
Step 1: Determine what you have: 2.87 mol sulfuric acid
Step 2: Determine what you want: ??? g sulfuric acid
Step 3: Write a plan to convert from what you have to what you want.
Step 4: Select conversion factor(s) that allows you to perform your plan:
1 mol SA = 98.09 g SA

Molar
Mass
Grams Moles

98.09 g SA
2.87 mole SA = 282 g SA
1 mole SA
Chapter 3 10

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 Mole Calculations Grams to Atoms
Now we will use the molar mass of a compound to
convert between grams of a substance and particles of a
substance.
6.022 1023 particles = 1 mol = molar mass
If we want to convert particles to mass, we must first
convert particles to moles and then we can convert
moles to mass.
Molar Avogadros
Mass Number
Grams Moles Atoms

Chapter 3 11

Stoichiometry:
Mole - Mole Relationships
We can use a balanced chemical equation to write mole
ratios which can be used as unit factors:

N2(g) + O2(g) 2 NO(g)
Since 1 mol of N2 reacts with 1 mol of O2 to produce 2
mol of NO, we can write the following mole
relationships:
1 mol N2 1 mol N2 1 mol O2
1 mol O2 2 mol NO 2 mol NO
1 mol O2 2 mol NO 2 mol NO
Chapter 3 1 mol N2 1 mol N2 1 mol O2 12

6
 Stoichiometry Problems
In a mass-mass stoichiometry problem, we will convert a given mass of a
reactant or product to an unknown mass of reactant or product.
There are four steps:
Step 1: Check that the equation is balanced!!
Step 2: Convert the given mass to moles using the molar mass as a
conversion factor.
Step 3: Convert the moles of given to moles of the unknown using the
coefficients in the balanced equation as a conversion factor.
Step 4: Convert the moles of unknown to grams using the molar mass as a
conversion factor.
A + B C + D
Molar Mole Molar
Mass of A Ratio Mass of B
Grams of A Moles of A Moles of B Grams of B

Chapter 3 13

Stoichiometry Problem
Aqueous solutions of NaOCl (household bleach) are prepared by the reaction of
NaOH with Cl2:
NaOH (aq) + Cl2 (g) NaOCl (aq) + NaCl (aq) + H2O (l)
How many grams of NaOH are needed to react with 25.0 g of Cl2?
Step 1: Balance the equation!!!
Step 2: Convert grams Cl2 to moles Cl2 using the molar mass of Cl2.
Step 3: Convert moles Cl2 to moles NaOH using the balanced equation.
Step 4: Convert moles NaOH to grams NaOH using the molar mass.
Molar Mole Molar
Mass of Cl2 Ratio Mass of NaOH
Grams of Cl2 Moles of Cl2 Mol of NaOH Grams of NaOH

1 mol Cl2 2 mol NaOH 40.00 g NaOH

25.0 g Cl2
70.90 g Cl2 1 mol Cl2 1 mol NaOH

Chapter 3 28.2 g NaOH 14

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 Percent Yield: Efficiency of Reaction
When you perform a laboratory experiment, the
amount of product collected is the actual yield.
The amount of product calculated from the
reaction is the theoretical yield.
The percent yield is a measure of the efficiency of
the lab reaction by comparing the amount of the
actual yield to the theoretical yield.
actual yield
100 % = percent yield
theoretical yield
Chapter 3 15

Calculations with Percent Yield

Dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) is prepared by reaction of
methane (CH4) with chlorine (Cl2) giving hydrogen
chloride as a by-product. How many grams of
dichloromethane result from the reaction of 1.85 kg of
methane if the yield is 43.1%?

Chapter 3 16

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 Limiting Reactant Concept
Say youre making grilled cheese sandwiches. You need 1
slice of cheese and 2 slices of bread to make one sandwich.
1 Cheese + 2 Bread 1 Sandwich
If you have 5 slices of cheese and 8 slices of bread,
how many sandwiches can you make?

With 5 slices of cheese you could make 5 sandwiches (a 1:1 ratio)

With 8 slices of bread you could make 4 sandwiches (a 2:1 ratio)

You would run out of bread after 4 sandwiches

so thats all you can make!
Chapter 3 17

Limiting Reactant Concept

Since you run out of bread first, bread is the
ingredient that limits how many sandwiches you
can make.
In a chemical reaction, the limiting reactant is the
reactant that controls the amount of product you
can make.
A limiting reactant is used up before the other
reactants.
The other reactants are present in excess.
Chapter 3 18

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 Limiting Reactant Concept
Which Reactant below is limiting?

How do you know?

Chapter 3 19

Limiting Reactant Problems

There are three steps to a limiting reactant problem:
Step 1: Calculate the moles of product that can be produced
from the first reactant.
mass reactant #1 mol reactant #1 mol product
Step 2: Calculate the moles of product that can be produced
from the second reactant.
mass reactant #2 mol reactant #2 mol product
Step 3: The limiting reactant is the reactant that produces
the least amount of product.

Chapter 3 20

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 Limiting Reactants: Table Method
One way to keep your limiting reactant problems organized is to use a table.
You do the exact same calculations as shown before but you organize your
answers in the table as shown below.
This helps to see the limiting reactant and how much product is made.

Li2O(s) + H2O(l) 2 LiOH (s)

ginitial 2.50 g 2.50 g 0g
MM 29.88 g/mol 18.02 g/mol 23.95 g/mol
ninitial 0.0837 mol 0.139 mol 0 mol
n- / n+ - 0.0837 -0.0837 + 0.0837
nfinal 0 mol 0.0553 mol 0.0837 mol
gfinal 0g 0.997 g 2.00 g

Chapter 3
Limiting Reactant 21

Determining the Limiting Reactant

Lithium oxide is a drying agent used on the space
shuttle. If 80.0 g of water is to be removed and 65.0 g
of lithium oxide is available, which reactant is
limiting?
Li2O(s) + H2O(l) LiOH (s)

Chapter 3 22

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 Limiting Reactant Problem
Cisplatin is an anti-cancer agent prepared as follows:
K2PtCl4 + NH3 Pt(NH3)2Cl2 + KCl
If 10.0 g of K2PtCl4 and 10.0 g of NH3 are allowed to
react:
(a) Which is the limiting reagent?
(b) How many grams of the excess reagent are consumed?
(c) How many grams of cisplatin are formed?

Chapter 3 23

Solution Concentration
The molar concentration, or molarity (M), is the
number of moles of solute per liter of solution, is
expressed as moles/liter.

moles of solute
=M
liters of solution

Chapter 3 24

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 Calculating Molarity
What is the molarity of a solution containing
27.5 g of KOH in 0.100 L of solution?
Step 1: We have 27.5 g of KOH so we need to convert to
moles of KOH.
Step 2: We want molarity of the solution (mol/L), so check
your units.
Step 3: Divide the moles of KOH by the volume of solution
(0.100 L).

moles of solute
=M
liters of solution
Chapter 3 25

Molar Concentration Problem

How many grams of Ca(OH)2 would you use to prepare
500.0 mL of a 1.25 M calcium hydroxide solution ?
Step 1: We have mL of solution and molarity Ca(OH)2
Step 2: We want grams of Ca(OH)2
Step 3: Use the molarity formula to solve for moles of Ca(OH)2.
Step 4: Convert the moles of Ca(OH)2 to grams of Ca(OH)2 using
its molar mass.

Chapter 3 26

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 Dilution of a Solution
Dilution is the process of reducing a solutions
concentration by adding more solvent.
Rather than prepare a dilute solution by dissolving
a solid in water, we can prepare a solution by
diluting a more concentrated solution.
When performing a dilution, the amount of solute
does not change, only the amount of solvent.

Mconcentrated x Vconcentrated = Mdilute x Vdilute

Chapter 3 27

Dilution Problem
What volume of 18.0 M H2SO4 is required to prepare
250.0 mL of 0.500 M aqueous H2SO4?
Step 1: Determine your unknown (VC)
Step 2: Identify MC, MD and VD
Step 3: Plug these values into the dilution equation and solve for VC

MC VC = MD VD
(18.0 M) VC = (0.500 M) (250.0 mL)

(0.500 M) (250.0 mL)

VC = = 6.94 mL
18.0 M
Chapter 3 28

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 Solution Stoichiometry
A solution stoichiometry problem uses molarity as a conversion
factor between volume and moles of a substance in solution.
There are three steps:
Step 1: Convert the given volume of solution to moles using the molarity
(mol/L) as a unit factor.
Step 2: Convert the moles of given to moles of the unknown using the
coefficients in the balanced equation.
Step 3: Convert the moles of unknown to molarity by dividing by the
volume of the solution.

Chapter 3 29

Solution Stoichiometry Problem

Stomach acid, a dilute solution of HCl in water,
can be neutralized by reaction with sodium
hydrogen carbonate, NaHCO3. How many
milliliters of 0.125 M NaHCO3 solution are
needed to neutralize 18.0 mL of 0.100 M HCl?

NaHCO3 (aq) + HCl (aq) CO2 (g) + H2O (l) + NaCl (aq)
Chapter 3 30

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 Summary of Stoichiometry Problems

Chapter 3 31

Acid-Base Titrations
A titration is used to analyze an acid solution
using a solution of a base.
A measured volume of base is added to the acid
solution.
When all of the acid has been neutralized, the pH is 7.
One extra drop of base solution after the endpoint
increases the pH dramatically.

Chapter 3 32

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 Acid Base Titration Problem
What is the molarity of a sulfuric acid solution if a
25.0 mL sample is titrated to equivalence with 50.0
mL of 0.150 M potassium hydroxide solution?
Step 1: Write the balanced neutralization reaction.

H2SO4 (aq) + KOH (aq) K2SO4 (aq) + H2O (l)

Step 2: We want concentration sulfuric acid (SA), we have
concentration and volume of potassium hydroxide (KOH) so
we need to convert from potassium hydroxide to sulfuric
acid. Volume Mole Volume
of KOH Ratio of SA
Conc of KOH Moles of KOH Moles of SA Conc of SA

Chapter 3 33

Redox Titrations
As with acids and bases, a titration can be used to
analyze the concentration of oxidizing and
reducing agents.

Chapter 3 34

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 Percent Composition
A percent, %, expresses the amount of a single
portion compared to an entire sample.

portion of interest (" Part" )

%= 100%
total sample (" Whole")
The percent composition of a compound lists the
mass percent of each element.0
Mass of element
% =
Mass of compound X 100%
Chapter 3 35

Calculating Percent Composition

Saccharin has the molecular formula C7H5NO3S. What is
the percentage composition of saccharin?
Step 1: Determine the molar mass of the compound (this will be your whole)
Step 3: Determine the mass of each element in the compound (you should have
this from your molar mass calculation). These will be your parts.
Step 3: Find the percent composition of the compound by dividing the mass of
the part (the element) by the mass of the whole (saccharin) then multiplying
by 100

Chapter 3 36

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 Empirical Formulas
The empirical formula of a compound is the simplest
whole number ratio of elements in a formula unit
The molecular formula of a compound is some
multiple of the empirical formula
However, the molecular formula and empirical formula can
be the same for a compound too!
Compound Formula Empirical Formula
Hydrogen peroxide H2O2
Benzene C6H6
Ethylene C2H4
Propane C3H8
Chapter 3 37

Determining Empirical Formula:

Mass Percents
A compounds empirical formula
can be determined from its percent
composition.

Rhyme to Remember:
Percent to Mass
Mass to mole
Divide by smallest
Multiply til whole
Chapter 3 38

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 Determining Empirical Formula:
Component Mass
Combustion analysis is one of the most
common methods for determining
empirical formulas.
A weighed compound is burned in
oxygen and its products analyzed by a
gas chromatogram.
It is particularly useful for analysis of
hydrocarbons (Combustion Reactions).

Chapter 3 39

Converting Decimals to Whole Numbers

When calculating empirical formulas, you dont always get a
nice whole number.
Sometimes the result of dividing by the smallest number of
moles gives a decimal instead.
Decimal values that are close to a whole number can be
rounded to that number:
2.04 becomes 2.00 and 6.98 becomes 7.00

However, a decimal
that is greater than
0.1 or less than 0.9
has to be multiplied
by a small integer:

Chapter 3 40

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Determining Empirical Formulas
A compound was analyzed to be 82.67% carbon and
17.33% hydrogen by mass. What is the empirical
formula of the compound?

Chapter 3 41

Determining Empirical Formulas

Combustion analysis of 45.62 mg of toluene gives
35.67 mg of H2O and 152.5 mg of CO2. What is the
empirical formula of toluene?

Chapter 3 42

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Determining Empirical Formulas
Menthol, a flavoring agent obtained from
peppermint oil, contains carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen. Combustion analysis of 1.00 g of menthol
yields 1.161 g of H2O and 2.818 g of CO2. What is
the empirical formula of menthol?

Chapter 3 43

Molecular Formulas
The empirical formula for benzene is CH. This
represents the ratio of C to H atoms in a benzene
molecule.
The actual molecular formula is some multiple (f) of
the empirical formula, (CH)f.
To determine f, we divide the mass of the molecular
formula by the mass of the empirical formula:

Mass of Molecular Formula

Mass of Empirical Formula
= f

Chapter 3 44

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 Finding Molecular Formulas
There are 4 steps to determining the molecular formula
of a compound:
Step 1: Determine the empirical formula of the compound.
May need to calculate yourself or may be given in the problem
Step 2: Calculate the mass of the empirical formula.
Step 3: Divide the mass of the molecular formula (usually
given in the problem!) by the mass of the empirical formula
to determine the multiplier factor (f).
Step 4: Multiply all the subscripts in the empirical formula
by the factor f to get the molecular formula.

Chapter 3 45

Molecular Formulas
A compound was analyzed to be 82.67% carbon and 17.33%
hydrogen by mass. An osmotic pressure experiment determined
that its molar mass is 58.11 g/mol. What is the molecular formula
of the compound?
Step 1: Determine the empirical formula. We did so in earlier problem: C2H5
Step 2: Determine the mass of the empirical formula
C2H5 : 29.06 g/mol
Step 3: Divide the mass of the molecular formula (given above: 58.11 g/mol) by the
mass of the empirical formula to determine f
Step 4: Multiply all the subscripts in the empirical formula by f

(C2H5)f 58.11 g/mol f = 2 and the molecular

=
C2H5 29.06 g/mol formula is C4H10
Chapter 3 46

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