4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 : CHEMICAL FORMULAE AND EQUATIONS

A1 : Relative Atomic Mass, Ar

1. The mass of an atom is very small. We cannot weigh a single atom.
2. We can determine the mass of one atom relative to a standard atom.
3. The atomic mass of an atom found comparing it with a standard atom is called Relative Atomic
Mass, RAM, Ar.
4. For the first, chemist using hydrogen atom as the standard atom for comparison because
hydrogen is the lightest atom.

Hydrogen as
standard atom Helium atom

A Helium atom is 4 times heavier compare to a hydrogen atom.

Relative atomic mass of Helium is 4.

5. Oxygen was then used as a standard to compare the masses of atoms. However, this also posed
some problem when three isotopes of oxygen was discovered.
6. 1961 : the International Unions of Chemists and Physicists agreed on a single the carbon -12
(C-12) atom used as a standard to compare the masses of atom. C-12 is choosen because :
 it is solid at room conditions
 can be easily handed.

The relative atomic mass of an element is the average mass of one atom of the element when
1
compared with of the mass of an atom of carbon – 12.
12

the average mass of one atom of an element

Relative atomic mass of an element =
1
× the mass of one atom of carbon - 12
12

of one atom carbon-12

How many helium
atoms are here?

Example :
Relative atomic mass of sodium is 23. [*Relative atomic mass does not have any unit]
1
 This means that the average mass of a sodium atom is 23 times larger than of the
12
mass of a carbon-12 atom.
Sodium 23 ×
atom

Chapter 3 1 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3

Activity 1:-
1. How many times is a copper atom heavier than two helium atoms?
[Relative atomic mass: He = 4; Cu = 64 ]
Solution :
Mass of a copper atom 1 × Ar of copper
=
Mass of two helium atoms 2 × Ar of helium
64
= 2x4
= 8
 a copper atom is 8 times heavier than two helium atoms

2. How many times is one atom of silicon heavier than one atom of lithium?
[Relative atomic mass: Li = 7; Si = 28 ]

Mass of a silicon atom

=
Mass of a lithium atom

3. How many times is one atom of nitrogen heavier than one atom of lithium.
[Relative atomic mass: Li = 7; N = 14 ]

4. How many magnesium atoms have the same mass as two silver atoms?
[Relative atomic mass: Mg = 24; Ag = 108]
Solution :

Chapter 3 2 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3

5. Calculate the number of atoms of lithium that have the same mass as two atoms of nitrogen.
[Relative atomic mass: Li = 7 ; N = 14 ]

6. The mass of one Y atom is 4 times larger than the mass of one nitrogen atom.
Calculate the relative atomic mass of Y.

[Relative atomic mass: N = 14 ]

7. The mass of an atom of element Y is ten times greater than the mass of an atom of element X.
What is the relative atomic mass of Y?
[Relative atomic mass: X = 9 ]

Chapter 3 3 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3

A2 : Relative Molecular Mass, Mr

The relative molecular mass of a molecule is the average mass of the molecule when compared
1
with of the mass of an atom of carbon-12.
12

the average mass of the molecule

Relative Molecular Mass of a molecule =
1
× the mass of one atom of carbon-12
12

Example :
Relative molecular mass of water is 18.
1
 This means that the average mass of one molecule of water is 18 times larger than
12
of the mass of carbon-12 atom.

18×
1
Water molecule
12
Carbon-12 atom

Relative molecular mass of carbon dioxide is 44.

 This means that the average mass of one molecule of carbon dioxide is 44 times larger
1
than of the mass of carbon-12 atom.
12

☺ The relative molecular mass of a substance can be calculated by adding up the relative atomic
masses of all the atoms that are present in one molecule of the substance.

Example :
1. Calculate the relative molecular mass of water, H2O
[Relative atomic mass: H = 1; O = 16]
Mr of H2O = 2(Ar of H) + 1(Ar of O)
= 2(1) + 2(16)
= 18

2. Calculate the relative molecular mass of carbon dioxide, CO 2

[Relative atomic mass: C = 12 ; O = 16 ]
Mr of CO2 = 1(Ar of C) + 2 (Ar of O)
= 1(12) + 2(16)
= 44

3. Calculate the relative molecular mass of ammonia, NH 3

[Relative atomic mass: H = 1; N = 14]
Mr of NH3 = 1(Ar of N) + 3 (Ar of H)
= 1(14) + 3(1)
= 17

Chapter 3 4 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3
Activity 2 :-
Calculate the relative molecular mass, Mr for the following substances :
[ Relative atomic mass : H = 1 ; C = 12 ; N = 14 ; O = 16 ; Cl = 35.5 ]

Substance Molecular formula Relative molecular mass, Mr

(a) Oxygen gas O2 2(16) = 32

(b) Butane gas C4H10 4(12) + 10(1) = 58
(c) Napthalene C10H8 10(12) + 8(1) = 128
(d) Nitrogen dioxide gas NO2 1(14) + 2(16) = 46
(e) Trichloromethane CHCl3 1(12) + 1(1) + 3(35.5) = 119.5
(f) Propanol C3H7OH 3(12) + 8(1) + 1(16) = 60
(g) Glucose C6H12O6 6(12) + 12(1) + 6(16) = 180
(h) Ethanoic acid CH3COOH 2(12) + 4(1) + 2(16) = 60

Notes :
 Relative molecular mass can only be used for substances that are made up of molecules.
(Covalent compound).
 For ionic compound, we use relative formula mass, Fr

Activity 3 :-
Calculate the relative formula mass, Fr of the following ionic compounds :
[Relative atomic mass: H = 1 ; C = 12 ; N = 14 ; O = 16 ; Al = 27 ; Mg = 24 ; P = 31 ; S = 32 ; K = 37 ;
Fe = 56 ; Cu = 64 ; I = 127 ]

Name of ionic
Formula Relative formula mass, Fr
compound
(a) Potassium iodide KI 37 + 127 = 164
(b) Aluminium oxide Al2O3 102
(c) Copper(II) sulphate CuSO4 160
56 + 3[14 + 3(16)] = 242
(d) Iron(III) nitrate Fe(NO3)3
56 + 3(14) + 9(16) = 242
Ammonium
(e)
carbonate (NH4)2CO3 96
Magnesium
(f)
phosphate Mg3(PO4)2 262
Magnesium
(g) sulphate MgSO4.7H2O 24 + 32 + 4(16) + 7 [2(1) +16] = 246
hepthahydrated
Copper(II) nitrate
(h)
penthahydrated Cu(NO3)2.5H2O 278

Chapter 3 5 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3
B CONCEPT OF MOLE [ Refer to Clinic Module 3 and 4 ]

 The word ‘pair’ and ‘dozen’ represent a fixed number of objects.

A pair of shoe = 2 shoes One dozen of egg = 12 eggs

B1 The Mole and the Number of Particles Refer to CLINIC MODULE 3

In chemistry, we use the unit ‘mole’ to measure the amount of substances.

The symbol of mole is mol.

One mol of substance = the number of particles in 12 g of carbon-12

= 6 .02 × 1023 particles

 The value of 6.02 x 1023 is called as the Avogadro Constant // Avogadro’s Number.

The number of particles in one mol of substance

One mol of substance contains 6.02 × 1023 particles.  [atoms, molecules or ions]

☺  1 mol of atomic substance contains 6 .02 × 1023 atoms.

Example :

(i) 1 mol of sodium, Na contains 6.02 × 1023 sodium atoms.

(ii) 1 mol of copper, Cu contains 6.02 × 1023 copper atoms.
(iii) 1 mol of iron atom contains 6.02 × 1023 iron atoms.

☺  1 mol of molecular substance contains 6.02 × 1023 molecules.

Example :
(i) 1 mol of water, H2O contains 6.02 × 1023 H2O molecules.
(ii) 1 mol of carbon dioxide, CO2 contains 6.02 × 1023 CO2 molecules
(iii) 1 mol of hydrogen gas, H2 contains 6.02 x 1023 hydrogen molecules

Activity 4 :-

1. Define a mole?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2. A closed glass bottle contains 0.5 mol of oxygen gas, O2.

(i) How many oxygen molecules, O2 are there in the bottle?
(ii) How many oxygen atoms are there in the bottle?

Chapter 3 6 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3
Solution :

3. Find the number of moles of molecules in a sample containing 9.03 × 10 23

molecules of carbon dioxide, CO2.

Solution :

4. Calculate the number of atoms in 2 mol carbon.

Solution :

5. How many ions are there in 1.5 mol sodium chloride, NaCl?

Solution :

6. Calculate the number of moles of bromine molecules, Br2 which consists 1.50 ×
1022 of bromine molecules.

Solution :

7. How many atoms are there in 2 mol of ammonia, NH3?

Solution :

Chapter 3 7 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3
Activity 5 :-

1 Calculate the number of atoms contains in :

(a) 0.5 mol of argon, Ar (b) 0.25 mol of ferum, Fe

2 How many moles of copper, Cu which contains 3.01 × 1022 copper atoms?

3 Calculate the number of molecules that contains in 0.01 mol of ammonia, NH3

4 Calculate the number of each atom, that contains in :

(a) 1 mol of ammonia, NH3 (b) 0.25 mol of carbon dioxide, CO2

5 A balloon contains 0.5 mol of oxygen gas, O2.

(a) How many oxygen molecules, O2 are there in the balloon?

(b) How many oxygen atoms are the in the balloon?

Chapter 3 8 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3
6 A container contains 1.806 × 1023 oxygen molecules. A sample of 0.5 mol of nitrogen gas is added
to the container. How many molecules are there all together in the container?

Container contains 1.806 × 1023 oxygen

+ 0.5 mol molecules
N2 gas

[ SPM 2008 ; P2 : Q3 (b) ]

7 Diagran below shows two balloons containing oxygen gas and carbon dioxide gas respectively.

0.5 mol 0.5 mol

Oxygen gas, O2 Carbon dioxide

gas, CO2

Balloon A Balloon B

Based on the given information :

(i) calculate the mass of oxygen gas in Balloon A.

(ii) calculate the volume of carbon dioxide gas in Balloon B.
(iii) compare the number of gas molecules in Balloon A and in Balloon B.
[ Relative atomic mass : C = 12 ; O = 16 ]
[ Molar volume of gas = 24 dm3 mol-1 at room temperature and pressure ]

Chapter 3 9 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3
For IONIC substances
Example :
(i) 1 mol of sodium chloride contains 6.02 x 1023 formula units of sodium chloride.

NaCl → Na+ + Cl-

1 mol 1 mol 1 mol
 1 mol of sodium chloride, NaCl contains 1 mol of Na+ ion and 1 mol of Cl- ion
Total number of ions = 6 .02 × 10 23 of Na+ ion + 6.02 × 10 23 of Cl- ion

(ii) 2 mol of aluminium oxide contains 2 × 6.02 x 1023 formula units of aluminium oxide.

Al2O3 → 2Al3+ + 3O2-

1 mol 2 mol 3 mol
 2 mol 4 mol 6 mol
 2 mol of aluminium oxide, Al2O3 contains 4 mol of Al3+ ion and 6 mol of O2- ion

Total number of ions = 4 [ 6.02 × 1023 ] of Al3+ ion + 6 [ 6 .02 × 10 23 ] of O2- ion

☺ We can convert the number of mole to the number of particles and vise versa by using the
following relationship :
× NA
Number of particles

Number of mole Number of particles

n NA

÷ NA

Activity 5 :-

Complete these equations :

Number of mole ……………………….

=
Avogandro constant

Number of particles =

Chapter 3 10 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3
Activity 6 :-
 Identify the ions that exist in the following ionic compound.
 Calculate the number of moles and the number of each ion that contains in the compound.

Number
Number of ions
Ions of moles
(ions)
( mol)
(a) 0.10 mol copper(II) sulphate, CuSO4
Cu2+ 0.01 0.01 × 6.02 × 1023
CuSO4 → Cu2+ + SO42-
1 mol 1 mol 1mol SO42- 0.01 0.01 × 6.02 × 1023
(b) 0.05 mol aluminium oxide, Al2O3
Al3+ 2 × 0.05 2 × 0.05 × 6.02 × 1023
Al2O3 → 2Al3+ + 3O2-
1 mol 2 mol 3 mol O2- 3 × 0.05 3 × 0.05 × 6.02 × 1023
(c) 2.5 mol of iron(III) nitrate, Fe(NO3)3

(d) 2.5 mol of magnesium chloride, MgCl2

(e) 0.05 mol of sodium sulphate, Na2SO4

(f) 0.25 mol of zinc nitrate, Zn(NO3)2

(g) 0.05 mol of ammonium sulphate, (NH4)2SO4

(h) 1.5 mol of ammonium chloride, NH4Cl

(i) 0.005 mol of nitric acid, HNO3

(j) 1.0 mol of hydrochloric acid, HCl

(k) 0.15 mol of sulphuric acid, H2SO4

B2 The Mole and the Mass of Substances Refer to CLINIC MODULE 3

Chapter 3 11 Chemical Formulae and Equations
4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3

 The molar mass of substances is the mass of 1 mol of the substances. It has a unit g mol-1
 That means,
The molar mass of substances is the mass of 6.02 × 10 23 particles of substances.
 The molar mass of any substances is numerically equal to its relative atomic mass, relative
molecular mass or relative formula mass.
Example :
Substances Relative mass Molar mass ( g mol-1)
Sodium, Na 23 23
Calcium, Ca 40
Oxygen gas, O2 2(16)
Methane, CH4 12 + 4(1) 16
Sodium oxide, Na2O
Zinc chloride, ZnCl2
Ammonia, NH3
[Relative atomic mass: H = 1; C = 12; N = 14; O =16; Na = 23; Cl = 35.5; Ca = 40; Zn = 65 ]

☺ We can convert the number of moles to the mass of substance and vise versa by using the
following relationship :

× Ar or Mr
Mass

Number of mole Mass (g)

n Ar @ Mr

÷ Ar or Mr

Activity 7 :-

Complete these equations :

Number of mole ……………………….

=
Relative atomic mass

Mass =

Activity 8 :-

Chapter 3 12 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3
[Relative atomic mass: H = 1; N = 14; O =16; Cl = 35.5; Ca = 40; Zn = 65 ]
1 Calculate the number of mole of :
(a) 2.0 g calcium, Ca (b) 3.2 g oxygen gas, O2

2 What is the mass of :

(a) 0.1 mol ammonia, NH3 ? (b) 0.25 mol zinc chloride, ZnCl2 ?

 Equal number of moles of substances contains the same number of particles.

Example:

1 mol of aluminium, Al contains the same number of atoms as 1 mol of iron, Fe.
0.5 mol of water, H2O contains the same number of molecules as 0.5 mol of carbon dioxide, CO2

Activity 9 :-
[Relative atomic mass: O =16; Mg = 24; Cl = 35.5; Ar = 40 ]
(i) What is the mass of magnesium that has the same number of atoms as in 4 g of argon?

(ii) What is the mass of oxygen gas that has twice the number of molecules as in 1.42 g of chlorine gas?

STP : Room conditions :

T = 0 oC T = 25 oC
P = 1 atm P = 1 atm

Chapter 3 13 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3

B3 The Mole and the Volume of Gas

1. The molar volume of a gas (Vmg) is defined as the volume occupied by one mol of the gas.
2. One mole of any gas always has the same volume under the same temperature and pressure.
3. The molar volume of any gas is 22.4 dm3 at STP or 24 dm3 at room conditions.

☺ We can convert the number of moles to the volume of gas and vise versa by using the following
relationship :

× Vmg
Vg

Number of moles Volume of gas (dm3)

n Vmg

÷ Vmg

Activity 8 :-
Complete these equations :

Number of mole ……………………….

=
Molar volume of gas

Volume of gas =

Example :

 1 mol of oxygen gas, O2 occupies 22.4 dm3 at STP.

 0.5 mol of oxygen gas, O2 occupies 0.5 × 22.4 dm3 at STP.
 2 mol of nitrogen gas, N2 occupies 2 × 24 dm3 at room conditions.
 3 mol of chlorine gas, Cl2 occupies 3 × 24 dm3 at room conditions.

 0.1 mol of oxygen gas, O2 occupies ……………….…... dm3 at STP.

 0.25 mol of oxygen gas, O2 occupies …………………... cm3 at STP.
 12 mol of nitrogen gas, N2 occupies …………………. dm3 at room conditions.
 3 mol of chlorine gas, Cl2 occupies ………………….. cm3 at room conditions.

Activity 9 :-

Chapter 3 14 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3

1. Calculate the volume of 0.01 mol hydrogen gas at STP.

2. What is the volume of 1.2 mol of ammonia gas at STP?

3. How many moles of nitrogen gas are present in 600 cm3 of the gas measured at room conditions?

4. Diagram below shows three balloons filled with different gas at room conditions.

Hydrogen, H2 Oxygen, O2 Carbon dioxide,

24.0 dm 3
gas 32.0 g gas 6.02 × 1023 CO2 gas
molecules

(a) Complete the table below :

Type of gas Hydrogen, H2 Oxygen, O2 Carbon dioxide, CO2

Volume of gas / dm3 24.0

Mass / g 32.0

Number of molecules /
6.02 × 1023
molecules

Number of moles / mol

(b) State the relationship between :

Chapter 3 15 Chemical Formulae and Equations

4541 CHEMISTRY Chapter 3
(i) the volume of gas and the number of moles

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

(ii) the volume of gas and the number of molecules

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

(iii) the number of molecules and the number of moles

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

(c) State the relationship between :

(i) the molar volume of gas, Vmg and the number of moles, n

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

(ii) the molar volume of gas Vmg and Avogadro constant, NA

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

(iii) the number of moles, n and Avogadro constant, NA

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

……………………………………………………………………………………
…

Chapter 3 16 Chemical Formulae and Equations