Mole Concept - Mass Of Compounds (And Elements)

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By now, you know how to do a One Step Mole Problem for Massing of Elements (Mole Concept - Basic and Massing). There are other particles in the world besides elements. They are called compounds. Here, we will expand our Mole calculations of Massing to include not only elements but compounds (or in other words, any substance).

General Understanding of Compounds

As you know the definition of compound is:

Def of compounds - two or more elements "chemically combined" in a fixed mass (therefore fixed number) ratio.

In general, there are two types of compounds, Molecular compounds (MC) and Ionic compounds (IC). For our purposes here, we can simply say that

1) Molecular compounds - two or more non-metals elements/atoms coming together
2) Ionic compounds - one type of metal element/atom and one type of non-metal coming together

Actually, how you determine if a set of elements coming together is a MC or IC entails more understanding than stated above. These details will be discussed or taught in a separate location.

Chemical Formula

Another question one may have is, How many atoms of each element is coming together to form these compounds. Chemists have a short hand method to show this called Chemical Formulas.

Def Chemical Formula - a way of showing what elements are coming together and how many of each.

The chemical formula uses the chemical symbol of each element and a subscript that indicates how many atoms of each element are coming together to form the compound. Here are two examples including their chemical name:
1) Na₁Cl₁ - Sodium chloride (an Ionic compound).
2) C₁O₂ - Carbon dioxide (a Molecular Compound).

Chemical Formula and Molar Mass
Molar Mass - What It Is and How to Calculate
[Example of Work for Molar Mass Calculations]
Example of Molar Mass Calculation and Use in Mole Problem - Blank copy to take notes on, if you want to.
[Example of Molar Mass Calculation and Use in Mole Problem]

[YouTube video on Example of Work for Molar Mass Calculations]
- Molar Mass Calculation for Compounds
- One Step Mole Calculation for Massing Compounds