Molar Mass Calculator University Of Sydney

Molar Mass Calculation:

\[ MW = \sum (\text{Atomic Mass} \times \text{Number of Atoms}) \]

Molar Mass:

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1. What is Molar Mass?

Molar mass is the mass of one mole of a substance (chemical element or chemical compound). It is a physical property defined as the mass of a given substance divided by the amount of substance. The molar mass is typically expressed in grams per mole (g/mol).

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the formula:

\[ MW = \sum (\text{Atomic Mass} \times \text{Number of Atoms}) \]

Where:

\( MW \) — Molar mass (g/mol)
\( \text{Atomic Mass} \) — Standard atomic weight of each element
\( \text{Number of Atoms} \) — Count of each element in the formula

Explanation: The calculator parses the chemical formula, identifies each element and its count, then sums the products of each element's atomic mass and its count in the formula.

3. Importance of Molar Mass

Details: Molar mass is fundamental in chemistry for stoichiometric calculations, converting between mass and moles of a substance, preparing solutions, and determining empirical and molecular formulas.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the chemical formula using standard notation (e.g., H2O for water, C6H12O6 for glucose). The formula is case-sensitive (capitalize element symbols properly).

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's the difference between molecular weight and molar mass?
A: They are numerically equivalent but molecular weight is dimensionless while molar mass has units of g/mol.

Q2: How are atomic masses determined?
A: Atomic masses are weighted averages of all naturally occurring isotopes of an element, based on their abundance.

Q3: Does the calculator work for ionic compounds?
A: Yes, it works for any chemical formula as long as the elements are in the database (e.g., NaCl, CaCO3).

Q4: What if my formula contains parentheses?
A: The current version doesn't support nested formulas with parentheses. For simple hydrates, enter the formula without water (e.g., CuSO4 instead of CuSO4·5H2O).

Q5: Why are some atomic masses not whole numbers?
A: Atomic masses account for isotopic distributions. For example, chlorine has two major isotopes (Cl-35 and Cl-37), resulting in an average atomic mass of ~35.45.