MOLE CONCEPT AND STOICHIOMETRY

Dear Reader

You have studied about the term 'mole' in your previous class. It is defined as the
amount of a substance containing as many constituting particles (atoms, molecules or
ions) as there are carbon atoms in 12g of carbon-12 ( 126 C isotope). 12g carbon contains
6.022 x 1023 atoms and this number is called Avogadro's number. Thus the collection of
6.022 x 1023 atoms of an atomic substance is one mole. It was also observed that the
mass of one mole of an atomic substance is equal to its atomic mass in grams. For
example, the atomic mass of sodium is 23u, so 23g of sodium constitute one mole and
this amount will contain 6.022 x 1023 atoms of sodium.
Similarly the mass of one mole of a molecular substance will be equal to its molecular
mass in grams which is also known as molar mass. For example a mole of CH4 will be
12 + 4 = 16 grams or in other words we can say that the mass of 6.022 x 1023 molecules of
methane would be 16g or it is said that the molar mass of methane is 16g mol-1.

given mass of subs tan ce ( g )

no. of moles
Molar mass of subs tan ce( g mol 1 )

Given
G number of particles
No. of moles
Avogadro number

Mole can be related to other quantities in the following manner:

23
Molar mass of a Avogadro number 6.022 10 of
One Mole of a
substance in g/mol entities
substance
(atoms/ions/molecules/electrons

22.4 L of a gas at STP (standard temp

0oC/273K and standard pressure 1 atm)

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Let us recall that a chemical reaction can be represented by a chemical equation written
in terms of the symbols and formulae of the reactants and products involved. The
equation can be made more meaningful by
(a) Balancing the number of atoms of each element of the reactants and products. (to
satisfy the law of conservation of mass)
(b) Writing the physical states of the reactants and products. (s- solid, l-liquid, g-gas,
aq-aqueous)
(c) By mentioning the amount of heat evolved or absorbed during a chemical
reaction.
(d) For example the reaction taking place in Haber’s process for manufacture of
ammonia gas can be represented in the form of chemical equation as:
3H 2 ( g ) N 2 ( g ) 2N
NH 3 ( g ) 92
9 .4kJ

Let us now learn about the Stoichiometry of Chemical reactions

One of the most important aspects of a chemical equation is that when it is written in
the balanced form, it gives quantitative relationships between the various reactants and
products in terms of moles, masses, molecules and volumes. This is called
stoichiometry (Greek word, meaning to ‘measure an element’). The coefficients of the
balanced equation are called stochiometric coefficients.

Consider the reaction;

CH 4 ( g ) 2O2 ( g ) CO2 ( g ) 2 H 2 O( g )

We can interpret the equation in the

following manner

(i) 1 mol of Methane gas react with 2

mol oxygen gas to form 1 mol carbon dioxide and 2 mol of H2O (g).
(ii) 16 g of Methane gas reacts with (2×32g) = 64 g oxygen gas to form 44 g carbon
dioxide and (2×18) = 36 g of H2O (g).

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(iii) 1 volume (22.4 L) of methane gas react with 2 volumes (44.8 L) of oxygen gas to
form 1 volume(22.4L) of CO2(g) and 2 volumes (44.8 L) of H2O (g) under STP
conditions.

To solve the numerical problems, following steps have to be followed:

(i) Write the balanced chemical equation in molecular form.

(ii) Select the symbols and formulae of the species (atoms and molecules) whose
weights/ volumes are either given or to be calculated.
(iii) Write down the molar masses/ moles/ molar volumes of the selected species
involved in the calculations.
(iv) Calculate the quantity of the desired substance by simple mathematical
calculations (unitary method)

Example 1 (Involving mass-mass relationship)

What mass of copper oxide will be obtained by heating 12.35g of copper carbonate?
(Atomic mass of Cu = 63.5 u)
hheat
eatt
CuCO3 ( s ) Cu
CuO( s ) C
CO2

63.5+12+48 63.5+16
=123.5g =79.5g

123.5g of copper carbonate upon heating give CuO = 79.5 g

79.5
1.0g of copper carbonate upon heating gives CuO = g
123.5
79.5
12.35g of copper carbonate upon heating give CuO = 12.35 7.95g
123.5

Example 2 (Involving mass-volume relationship)

KC " O3 on heating decomposes to give KC " and O2. What is the volume of O2 at STP
liberated by 0.2 mol of KClO3?

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 2 KC "O3 ( s ) heat
KC "( s ) 3O2 ( g )

2 mol 3×22.4 L = 67.2 "

2 mol of KC " O3 evolve O2 at STP = 67.2 "

67.2
1 mol of KC " O3 evolves O2 at STP = "
2

67.2
0.2 mol of KC " O3 evolve O2 at STP = 0.2" 6.72"
2

Example 3 (Involving volume-volume relationship)

What volume of oxygen at STP is required to affect complete combustion of 300 cm3 of
acetylene?
Combustion of Acetylene:

2C2 H 2 ( g ) 5O2 ( g ) 4CO2 ( g ) 2 H 2O( g )

4C

2 Vol. 5 Vol. 4 Vol.

2 Vol. of C2H2 require O2 for complete combustion = 5 Vol.

5
300 cm3 of C2H2 require O2 for complete combustion = 3 750 cm3
300 7
2

SUGGESTED VIDEO LINKS

http://www.learnerstv.com/video/Free-video-Lecture-9206-Chemistry.htm

http://www.learnerstv.com/video/Free-video-Lecture-9208-Chemistry.htm

DO IT YOURSELF

I. Multiple choice Questions (with one or more than one correct answer/s) :

1. 27 g of Al (at. Mass 27 u) will react with oxygen equal to

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 (a) 24 g (c) 8 g
(b) 40 g (d) 10 g

2. 10 g CaCO3 on reaction with HCl acid will produce CO2

(a) 1120 cm3 (c) 2240 cm3
(b) 112 cm3 (d) 224 cm3

3. 8 g O2 has the same number of molecules as

(a) 7 g CO (c) 14 g N2

(b) 11 g CO2 (d) 16 g SO2

4. 1 g Mg was burnt in a closed vessel containing 2 g of oxygen. The incorrect

statements are:
(a) 0.25 g of Mg will be left unburnt.
(b) 1.33 g of O2 will be left unreacted.
(c) 2.5 g of MgO will be formed
(d) The mixture at the end will weigh 3 g.

5. One atom of Phosphorus has a relative atomic mass 24 u. Its molecule has
four phosphorus atoms. Use this information to fill in the following boxes.

Molar mass of
Phosphorus molecule

No of molecules in one Number of atoms in one

Phosphorus
mole of phosphorus mole of Phosphorus
molecule molecule

Mass of one mole

of Phosphorus
atoms

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 6. Match the entries of column I with appropriate entries of column II

Column I Column II
(No. of moles) (Amount of substance)

A 0.1 mol P 4480 mL of CO2 at STP

B 0.2 mol Q 0.1 g atom of Fe

C 0.25 mol R 1.5×1023 molecules of oxygen gas

D 0.5 mol S 9 mL of water

T 200 mg of hydrogen gas

II. Fill in the blanks:

1. The number of g –atom of oxygen in 6.022×1022 CO molecules is -------.

2. In the reaction: 2 Al ( s) 6 HCl (aq) 2 Al 3 (aq) 6Cl (aq) 3H 2 ( g ) , The volume

2A
of H2(g) at STP produced for every mole of HCl(aq) consumed is --------.

3. If ten volumes of dihydrogen gas reacts with five volumes of dioxygen gas, ---
----- volumes of water vapour are produced.

4. Mass of one 12C atom in grams = -------

ANSWERS

I. Multiple choice questions:

1. (a)

2. (c)

3. (a), (b), (d)

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 4. (a), (c)

5.
Molar mass of
Phosphorus molecule =
96 g/ mol

No of molecules in one Number of atoms in one

mole of phosphorus mole of Phosphorus
Phosphoru
molecule= 6.022×1023 molecule= 4×6.022×1023=
2.4088×1024

Mass of one mole of

Phosphorus atoms =24g

6. A – Q, T B–P C–R D–S

II. Fill in the blanks:

1. 0.1

2. 11.2 L

3. 10 volumes

4. 1.9927×10-23 g

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