Avogadro's
Number & The Mole
Avogadro's number and the mole are very important to the
understanding of atomic structure. The Mole is like a dozen. You can have a
dozen guitars, a dozen roosters, or a dozen rocks. If you have 12 of anything
then you would have what we call a dozen. The concept of the mole is just like
the concept of a dozen. You can have a mole of anything. The number associated
with a mole is Avogadro's number. Avogadro's number is
602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (6.02 x 1023). A mole of marbles
would spread over the surface of the earth, and produce a layer about 50 miles
thick. A mole of sand, spread over the United States, would produce a layer 3
inches deep. A mole of dollars could not be spent at the rate of a billion
dollars a day over a trillion years. This shows you just how big a mole is.
This number is so large that it is usually only represented in scientific
notation:
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avogadro's number in scientific notation
Probably the only thing you will ever have a mole of is atoms or molecules. One mole of magnesium atoms (6.02 x 1023 magnesium atoms) weigh 24.3 grams. 6.02 x 1023 carbon atoms weigh a total of 12.0 grams. 6.02 x 1023 molecules of CO2 gas only weigh a total of 44.0 grams.
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