Molecules [ENDORSED]

[Hector Acosta Discussion 1H]

What is the difference between molecules and moles?

[Shanmitha Arun 1L]

A mole would be 6.022 x 10^23 molecules. So, a mole is a unit quantity that is used to measure the quantity of molecules. A molecule is just 2 or more atoms combined by a chemical bond.

[Amelia Georgius 1K]

A mole is an amount of something, similar to how a dozen is 12 units of something, a mole is 6.022x10^23 units of something. A mole of molecules would be 6.022x10^23 molecules, where a single unit, in this example, would be a molecule.

[Andy Nguyen 1A]

The textbook says that a mole of something has the same number of atoms in carbon-12, which is 6.02x10^23 atoms.

[edenzeboulon3A]

I find it is easier to separate them in my mind if I think of moles as a unit quantity, sort of like a counting unit.
Moles = the quantity of a substance (equal to number or particles in 12 grams of carbon-12) OR (6.022 x 10^23).

Whereas, a molecule is a structural element between atoms (two or more atoms held together by covalent/ionic bonds) OR (example): H2O is one molecule of water.

Basically;
moles= quantity measurement

[Matthew Lee 3L]

A mole is a specific amount of something. It is the quantity of Avogadro's number which is 6.022 x 10^23. For example, on the periodic table, it gives the molar mass of all of each element. This means that an element weighs 'x' amount of grams for every mole (6.022 x 10^23) of atoms of that element.

[Kyle Reidy 3H]

The textbook says that a mole of something has the same number of atoms in carbon-12, which is 6.02x10^23 atoms.

@304938418, A mole of something has the same number of atoms as 12 grams of carbon-12. Carbon-12 is an isotope (I'm sure we'll review this later in the quarter), so there are singular atoms which are carbon-12 atoms.

[Chloe Blume 1F]

A mole is a unit of measure that defines the amount of a chemical substance that contains as many "things", such as molecules or atoms, as there is in 12 grams of carbon-12. The a molecule is one of those "things" that can make up a chemical substance and is the smallest fundamental unit made up of a group of atoms bonded together.

[Beza Ayalew 1I]

I like to think a moles as a way to have different elements and compounds on the same page since an atom of each element on the periodic table weighs something different, so by converting grams of different molecules to moles, you can get a true image of how much you have of one compound or element in comparison to others

[Beza Ayalew 1I]

Also, does anyone know why carbon-12 in particular was chosen over other elements or other isotopes of Carbon?

[Chem_Mod]

I believe the choice to use Carbon-12 is somewhat arbitrary, but the choice of this isotope probably has to do with the fact that carbon-12 is the most abundant isotope. Carbon is probably one of the easier elements to find in a pure.

I recommend this article for a short history of the definition of Avagadro's number we use today!

https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... os-number/