Unit #7 CALCULATIONS BASED ON FORMULAE

7.2 - Mole Concept

How big is 6.022 x 1023?

All measurements are always given in "reasonable units". I'll give you some rough idea of magnitudes. How does 1023 compare to other large numbers that are out there?

Did you know that ...

  1. there are some pretty big distances?
  2. there are some pretty heavy masses?
  3. there are just in general some pretty BIG numbers?
A reasonable unit for counting everyday items like apples, eggs, and bananas is a dozen (count by 12).
A reasonable unit for counting very tiny particles like electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms and molecules is a mole (count by 6.022 x 1023).

Just remember,

Dozen - a dozen is counting by 12.
- used to count typical visible quantities
eg. marbles, oranges, pencils ... etc
Mole - a mole is counting by 6.022 x 1023.
- used to count extremely small particles
eg. atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, protons, formula units ... etc

 


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