STOICHIOMETRY

Key terms
Stoichiometry-The calculation of the relative quantities of reactants and products in a
chemical reaction
Relative atomic mass-The average mass of one atom of an element on a scale where
one 12C atom has 12 units of mass exactly, Ar

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Relative molecular mass-The sum of the relative atomic masses, Mr
Empirical formula-The smallest whole number ratio of the atoms of each element in a
compound

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Molecular formula-The number of atoms of each element in one molecule of a
substance
Mole-The same number of particles as there are atoms in 12 g of the carbon-12 isotope

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Avogadro constant-The number of particles in one mole of a substance. It is equal to
6.02 × 1023 particles

Chemical formulae
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The structural formula tells you the way in which the atoms in a particular
molecule are bonded. This can be done by either a diagram (displayed
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formula) or written (simplified structural formula)
The molecular formula tells you the actual number of atoms of each element
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in one molecule of the compound or element e.g. H2 has 2 hydrogen atoms,

HCl has 1 hydrogen atom and 1 chlorine atom

EXAMPLE: BUTANE
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• Structural formula (simplified)

CH3CH2CH2CH3
 • Molecular formula

C4H10

Deducing formulae by combining power

The concept of valency is used to deduce the formulae of compounds

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Valency or combining power tells you how many bonds an atom can make
with another atom

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Names of compounds

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For compounds consisting of 2 atoms:

If one is a metal and the other a non-metal, then the name of the metal atom
comes first and the ending of the second atom is replaced by adding –ide
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O E.g. NaCl which contains sodium and chlorine thus becomes sodium chloride

If both atoms are non-metals and one of those is hydrogen, then hydrogen
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comes first
o E.g. Hydrogen and chlorine combined is called hydrogen chloride
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For other combinations of non-metals as a general rule, the element that has a
lower Group number comes first in the name.

o E.g. Carbon and oxygen combine to form CO2 which is carbon dioxide since
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carbon is in Group 4 and oxygen in Group 6.

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For compounds that contain certain groups of atoms:

There are common groups of atoms which occur regularly in chemistry
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Examples include the carbonate ion (CO32-), sulfate ion (SO42-), hydroxide ion
(OH–) and the nitrate ion (NO3–)
When these ions form a compound with a metal atom, the name of the metal
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comes first
Eg. KOH is potassium hydroxide, CaCO3 is calcium carbonate
 Writing and balancing chemical equations
These use the chemical symbols of each reactant and product
When balancing equations, there needs to be the same number of atoms of
each element on either side of the equation
The following non -metals must be written as molecules: H2, N2, O2, F2, Cl2, Br2
and I2

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Work across the equation from left to right, checking one element after
another

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If there is a group of atoms, for example a nitrate group (NO3–) that has not
changed from one side to the other, then count the whole group as one entity

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rather than counting the individual atoms.

For example: NaOH + HCl → NaCl + H2O

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There are equal numbers of each atom on either side of the reaction arrow so
the equation is balanced
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Using state symbols:
State symbols are written after formulae in chemical equations to show which
physical state each substance is in:
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• Exam Tip
• Exam Tip
When balancing equations you cannot change any of the formulae, only the amount
of each atom or molecule can be changed. This is done by changing the numbers
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that go in front of each chemical species

Ionic Equations:
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Starting from a balanced equation with state symbols, an ionic equation can be written
using the following steps.
1 Anything with (aq) as a state symbol should be written as ions if it is
a. a dilute acid, e.g. HCl (aq) is written as H+(aq) and Cl–(aq)
b. a metallic compound, e.g. CuSO4(aq) is written Cu2+(aq) and SO42-(aq)
c. An ammonium salt, e.g. (NH4)2SO4 (aq) is written 2NH4+(aq) andSO42–(aq).

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 2. Numbers in front of formulae in equations mean that everything after the number is
multiplied, e.g. 2HNO3 (aq) is written as 2H+ (aq) and 2NO3− (aq).

3. The formulae of any substance with state symbols (s), (l), (g) are not written as ions,
thus are not changed in an ionic equation.

4. Any ions which are the same on both sides, known as spectator ions, are
cancelled.

Relative atomic mass

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The mass of an atom compared with the carbon-12 atom is called its
relative atomic mass, or Ar.

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The small r stands for relative to the mass of a carbon-12 atom.

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The symbol for the relative atomic mass is Ar
This is calculated from the mass number and relative abundances of all the
isotopes of a particular element.

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Different atoms of the same element are called isotopes. Chlorine has two isotopes:
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front of each c

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Relative formula (molecular) mass

The symbol for the relative molecular mass is Mr and it refers to the total mass of the
molecule.

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To calculate the Mr of a substance, you have to add up the Relative Atomic Masses
of all the atoms present in the formula.
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If the substance is made of molecules, its mass found in this way is called the
relative molecular mass, or Mr. So the Mr for hydrogen is 2, and for water is 18.
But if the substance is made of ions, its mass is called the relative
formula mass, which is also Mr for short. So the Mr for NaCl is 58.5.
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The mole:
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DEFINITIONS OF A MOLE

1 mole of a substance

-is the number of particles which is equal to the number of atoms in 12g of carbon-12
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OR

-is the Avogadro’s constant/number/is equal to 6.02 x 10 23 particles

OR

-is the amount of substance which has a mass equal to the Ar or M r of the substance in
grams
 Calculations from equations, using the mole

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 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MASS AND MOLES

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GASES AND MOLES
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1 mole of every gas occupies the same volume, at the same
temperature and pressure. At room temperature and pressure, this
volume is 24 dm3.
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The volume occupied by 1 mole of a gas is called its molar volume.

The molar volume of a gas is 24 dm3 at r t p (Room temperature is 20 degrees
Celsius, Pressure is 1 atmosphere)
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REMEMBER:

1 dm3 = 1000cm 3
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= 1litre
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MOLES AND CONCENTRATION

The concentration of a solution is the amount of solute, in grams or

moles that is dissolved in 1 dm3 of solution.
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 The concentration of a solution can be shown in g/dm3 or mol /dm3. It is often more
useful to know the concentration of a reactant in mol/dm3 so that the amount of
reactant in a given volume can be calculated.

Volume units

Volumes used in concentration calculations must be in dm 3, not in cm3. As we know

that 1 dm3 = 1000 cm3. This means:

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 divide by 1000 to convert from cm3 to dm3
 multiply by 1000 to convert from dm3 to cm3

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For example, 250 cm3 is 0.25 dm3 (250 ÷ 1000). It is often easiest to convert from
cm3 to dm3 before continuing with a concentration calculation.

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Converting between units

The relative formula mass of the solute is used to convert between mol/dm3 and


g/dm3: ad
to convert from mol/dm3 to g/dm3, multiply by the relative formula mass
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 to convert from g/dm3 to mol/dm3, divide by the relative formula mass
Remember: the molar mass is the Ar or Mr in grams per mol.
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THE THREE CALCULATION TRIANGLES AT A GLANCE:

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 EMPIRICAL FORMULA AND MOLECULAR FORMULA

The empirical formula shows the simplest ratio in which atoms

Combine

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For some molecular compounds, both formulae are the same. For others
they are different.
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Look at the table below:

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Actual mass obtained= Actual yield

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Calculated mass= Theoretical or Maximum Yield

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