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.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the formula:

Where:

• \( MW \) — Molar mass (g/mol)
• \( \sum \) — Sum of all atomic masses

Explanation: The calculator parses the chemical formula and sums the atomic masses of all atoms in the molecule.

3. Importance of Molar Mass

Details: Molar mass is essential for stoichiometric calculations, converting between grams and moles, preparing solutions, and determining empirical formulas from percent composition.

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 (capital letters for element symbols).

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's the difference between molecular weight and molar mass?
A: While often used interchangeably, molecular weight is technically dimensionless (relative to ¹²C), while molar mass has units of g/mol.

Q2: How do I calculate molar mass for ionic compounds?
A: The same way as for molecular compounds - sum the atomic masses of all atoms in the formula unit (e.g., NaCl = Na + Cl).

Q3: What about hydrates?
A: Include the water molecules in the formula (e.g., CuSO4·5H2O would include 5 water molecules in the calculation).

Q4: Why are some atomic masses not whole numbers?
A: Atomic masses account for natural isotopic abundance, so they're weighted averages of all naturally occurring isotopes.

Q5: Can this calculator handle complex formulas?
A: This basic version handles simple formulas. For complex formulas, consider using parentheses and coefficients (e.g., (NH4)2SO4).