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Stoichiometry
24 October 2024 10:13
Mass spectrometer is used

Unified Atomic Mass Unit

• Mass of a single atom is defined in terms of a standard atom which is called
the unified atomic mass unit
• This unified atomic mass is defined as one-twelfth of the mass of a carbon-12 isotope
• The symbol for the unified atomic mass is u (often Da, Dalton, is used as well)
• 1 u = 1.66 x 10-27 kg

Relative atomic mass, Ar

• The relative atomic mass (Ar) of an element is the ratio of the average atomic mass
of an element to the unified atomic mass unit
• The relative atomic mass is determined by using the average mass of
the isotopes of a particular element

• The Ar has no units as it is a ratio and the units cancel each other out

Relative isotopic mass

• The relative isotopic mass is the mass of a particular atom of an isotope compared
to the value of the unified atomic mass unit

Relative average atomic mass/weighted average

○ To calculate the average atomic mass of an element the percentage abundance is taken
into account
○ Multiply the atomic mass by the percentage abundance for each isotope and add them all
together
○ Divide by 100 to get average relative atomic mass
○ This is known as the weighted average of the masses of the isotopes

Relative molecular mass, Mr

• The relative molecular mass (Mr) is the ratio of weighted average mass of a
molecule of a molecular compound to the unified atomic mass unit
• The Mr has no units

• The Mr can be found by adding up the relative atomic masses of all atoms present in
one molecule
• When calculating the Mr the simplest formula for the compound is used, also known
as the formula unit
○ Eg. silicon dioxide has a giant covalent structure, however the simplest formula
(the formula unit) is SiO2
Example Mr calculations
Substance Atoms present Mr
Hydrogen 2xH (2 x 1.0) = 2.0
(H2)
Water (2 x H) + (1 x O) (2 x 1.0) + (1 x 16.0) = 18.0
(H2O)
Potassium carbonate (2 x K) + (1 x C) + (3 x O) (2 x 39.1) + (1 x 12.0)

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 Potassium carbonate (2 x K) + (1 x C) + (3 x O) (2 x 39.1) + (1 x 12.0)
(K2CO3) + (3 x 16.0) = 138.2
Calcium hydroxide (1 x Ca) + (2 x O) + (2 x H) (1 x 40.1) + (2 x 16.0)
(Ca(OH)2) + (2 x 1.0) = 74.1
Ammonium sulfate (2 x N) + (8 x H) + (1 x S) + (4 x O) (2 x 14.0) + (8 x 1.0) + (1 x 32.1)
((NH4)2SO4) + (4 x 16.0) = 132.1

Relative formula mass, Mr

• The relative formula mass (Mr) is used for compounds containing ions
• It has the same units and is calculated in the same way as
the relative molecular mass
• In the table above, the Mr for potassium carbonate, calcium hydroxide and ammonium
sulfates are relative formula masses

Formulae
Formulae of Ionic Compounds

Equations
Symbol equation Word equation
A symbol equation is a shorthand way of A word equation is a longer way of describing a chemical
describing a chemical reaction using chemical reaction using only words to show the reactants and
symbols to show the number and type of each products
atom in the reactants and products
• The physical state of reactants and products in a chemical reaction is specified by using state symbols
○ (s) solid
○ (l) liquid
○ (g) gas
○ (aq) aqueous

Balancing equations
Law of conservation of mass
• During chemical reactions, atoms cannot be created or destroyed
• The number of each atom on each side of the reaction must therefore be the same
○ E.g. the reaction needs to be balanced
• Mass of element before reaction = mass of element after reaction
• When balancing equations remember:
○ Not to change any of the formulae
○ Charges cannot be destroyed
○ To put the numbers used to balance the equation in front of the formulae
○ To balance firstly the carbon, then the hydrogen and finally the oxygen in combustion
reactions of organic compounds
○ Balance the complex molecules first

Ionic equations
An ionic equation shows only the ions or other particles taking part in a reaction, without showing the
spectator ions
• In aqueous solutions, ionic compounds dissociate into their ions
• Many chemical reactions in aqueous solutions involve ionic compounds, however, only some of the
ions in solution take part in the reactions
• The ions that do not take part in the reaction are called spectator ions

Molecular formula Empirical formula

• The molecular formula is the formula • The empirical formula is the
that shows the number and type of simplest whole number ratio of the
each atom in a molecule elements present in one molecule
○ Eg. the molecular formula of or formula unit of the compound
ethanoic acid is C2H4O2 ○ Eg. the empirical formula of
ethanoic acid is CH2O

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 ○
ethanoic acid is CH2O

• Organic molecules often have different empirical and molecular formulae

• Simple inorganic molecules however have often similar empirical and molecular formulae
• Ionic compounds always have similar empirical and molecular formulae

Water of Crystallisation
• Water of crystallisation is when some compounds can form crystals which have water as part of
their crystalline structure (are not directly bonded to the metal cation.)
• A compound that contains water of crystallisation is called a hydrated compound
• The water of crystallisation is separated from the main formula by a dot when writing the chemical
formula of hydrated compounds
○ E.g. hydrated copper(II) sulfate is CuSO4•5H2O

• A compound which doesn’t contain water of crystallisation is called an anhydrous compound

○ E.g. anhydrous copper(II) sulfate is CuSO4

• A compound can be hydrated to different degrees

○ E.g. cobalt(II) chloride can be hydrated by six or two water molecules
○ CoCl2•6H2O or CoCl2•2H2O

• The conversion of anhydrous compounds to hydrated compounds is reversible by heating the

hydrated salt:
Hydrated: CuSO4•5H2O ⇌ CuSO4 + 5H2O :Anhydrous

• The degree of hydration can be calculated from experimental results:

○ The mass of the hydrated salt must be measured before heating
○ The salt is then heated until it reaches a constant mass
○ The two mass values can be used to calculate the number of moles of water in the hydrated
salt - known as the water of crystallisation

The Mole & the Avogadro Constant

• Can be applied to atoms, molecules, ions and electrons
• The Avogadro constant (NA or L) is the number of particles equivalent to the
relative atomic mass or molecular mass of a substance (expressed in grams)
• Avogadro's number is a number equal to the number of particles present in 1 mole of any substance.

• The value of NA is 6.02 x 1023

• The mass of a substance with this number of particles is called a mole (mol)

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 •
○ The mass of a substance containing the same number of fundamental units as there are atoms
in exactly 12.00 g of 12C
• One mole of any element is equal to the relative atomic mass of that element in grams
○ One mole of carbon, that is if you had 6.02 x 1023 atoms of carbon in your hand, would have a
mass of 12 g
○ One mole of water would have a mass of (2 x 1 + 16) = 18 g

Mole Calculations

Percentage yield
• In a lot of reactions, not all reactants react to form products which can be due to several factors:
○ Other reactions take place simultaneously
○ The reaction does not go to completion
○ Reactants or products are lost to the atmosphere
• The percentage yield shows how much of a particular product you get from the reactants compared
to the maximum theoretical amount that you can get:

Excess & limiting reagents

• Sometimes, there is an excess of one or more of the reactants (excess reagent)
• The reactant which is not in excess is called the limiting reagent
• To determine which reactant is limiting:
○ The number of moles of the reactants should be calculated
○ The ratio of the reactants shown in the equation should be taken into account eg:
C + 2H2 → CH4
There are 10 mol of Carbon reacting with 3 mol of Hydrogen
• Hydrogen is the limiting reagent and since the ratio of C : H2 is 1:2 only 1.5 mol of C will react with 3
mol of H2

Volumes of gases
• Avogadro suggested that ‘equal volumes of gases contain the same number of molecules’
○ This is also called Avogadro’s hypothesis

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 ○

Volumes & concentrations of solutions

• The concentration of a solution is the amount of solute dissolved in a solvent to make 1
dm3 of solution
○ The solute is the substance that dissolves in a solvent to form a solution
○ The solvent is often water

• A concentrated solution is a solution that has a high concentration of solute

• A dilute solution is a solution with a low concentration of solute
• When carrying out calculations involve concentrations in mol dm -3 the following points need to be
considered:
○ Change mass in grams to moles
○ Change cm3 to dm3

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 Percentage composition by mass
- Percentage of any particular element present in a compound in terms of mass

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Notes Page 7
Notes Page 8
 1 dm3 = 1000cm3 = 1 Liter

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