Today’s Lecture

Stoichiometry

3.1 Atomic Masses

3.2 The Mole
3.3 Molar Mass
3.4 Conceptual Problem Solving (in 7th Edition)
3.5 Percent Composition of Compounds
3.6 Determining the Formula of a Compound

Mass Spectrometry
„ we cannot determine the mass of an individual atom just by
adding up the masses of its subatomic particles - why?
„ determining the mass of individual atoms is done by
experiment (12C is assigned a mass of exactly 12 atomic
mass units (amu) and the masses of all other atoms are
determined relative to this standard)
03_34 Detector
plate

Figure 3.1: Schematic

diagram of a mass
Ion-accelerating
electric field Least massive ions
Accelerated
ion beam
spectrometer. Mass
Positive ions
Sample
spectrometry is an
Most
massive
accurate method for
ions
comparing the masses
of atoms (or
Electron beam Slits Magnetic field

molecules) 2
Heating device
to vaporize sample

1
 Isotopic Masses by Mass Spectrometry
„ e.g. when a sample of pure carbon is analyzed by mass
spectrometry, the ratio of the mass of 13C to 12C is found
to be:
mass of 13C
= 1.0836129
mass of 12C
13
„ mass of C = (1.0836129) (12 amu) = 13.00335 amu

exact number by
definition

„ the isotopic masses of other atoms can be determined in a

similar manner (isotopic mass is the mass, in amu, of an
individual atom, relative to an arbitrarily assigned value of
exactly 12 amu as the mass of the 12C isotope) 3

Atomic Masses
„ it is often more convenient to express the atomic mass of
an element rather than the isotopic mass of each isotope
of that element
„ atomic mass is the average mass of the isotopes in the

natural form of a given element (must take into account

the natural abundance of each isotope)
„ e.g. what is the atomic mass of naturally occurring carbon?

„ the mass spectrum of pure carbon shows that 98.892%

of carbon atoms are 12C (the isotopic mass of 12C is

assigned a value of 12 amu) and 1.108% are 13C (the
isotopic mass of 13C is 13.00335 amu)
(0.98892)(12 amu) + (0.01108)(13.00335 amu)
= 12.01 amu (the atomic mass of naturally occurring carbon
is 12.01 amu) 4

2
 Atomic Masses (cont’d)
„ use the following information to determine that the atomic
mass of silicon is 28.0855 amu
„ the masses and percent natural abundances of the three
naturally occurring isotopes of silicon are:
28
Si, 27.97693 amu (92.23%)
29
Si, 28.97649 amu (4.67%)
30
Si, 29.97376 amu (3.10%)

28.08551118 amu

Mass Spectrum of Mercury (Hg)

„ in addition to determining the masses of atoms (or
molecules), mass spectrometry tells us the isotopic
composition of a natural element

3
 Mass Spectrum of Chlorine (Cl2)
„ below is a mass spectrum of chlorine
„ under normal conditions, chlorine exists as a diatomic

gas (Cl2)
„ from the mass spectrum, is it
0.6 possible to determine what the
0.5 naturally occurring isotopes for
chlorine are?
Relative Intensity

0.4

0.3 „ if so, what is the percent

composition of each isotope?
0.2

0.1

0.0
69 70 71 72 73 74 75
Mass Number
7

The Mole

„ a mole can be defined as the number equal to the number

of carbon atoms in exactly 12 g of pure 12C
23
„ this number is 6.022 x 10 and is called Avogadro’s number
23
„ one mole of something consists of 6.022 x 10 units of
that substance
„ how do we use the mole in chemical calculations?

„ 1 mole of pure
12C atoms weighs 12 g where each 12C

atom weighs 12 amu

„ 1 mole of a naturally occurring carbon weighs 12.01 g,

where the average atomic mass of a carbon atom is

12.01 amu
„ the mass sample ratio (12g/12.01g) is the same as the

ratio of the mass of the individual components

(12amu/12.01amu) 8

4
 The Mole (cont’d)
„ now compare natural carbon (average atomic mass of 12.01
amu) to another element like magnesium (average atomic
mass of 24.31 amu)
„ both contain 1 mole of atoms (i.e. 6.022 x 10
23 atoms)

„ 1 mole of magnesium atoms are just heavier than 1 mole

of carbon atoms
„ we also have a fixed relationship between the atomic mass

unit (amu) and the gram (g)

„ 1
12C atom = 12 amu

„ 1 mole of
12C atoms = 12 g

„ (6.022 x 10
23 atoms) * (12 amu/atom) = 12 g

„ 6.022 x 10
23 amu = 1 g

„ e.g. what is the mass (in grams) of a sample of carbon

containing 6 atoms? 72 9

Molar Mass
„ the mass of 1 mole of molecules is called the molar mass

„ e.g. what is the molar mass of ethanol (CH3CH2OH)?

„ one molecule of ethanol contains two C atoms, six H

atoms and one O atom

„ one mole of ethanol contains two moles of C atoms, six

moles of H atoms and one mole of O atoms

„ 2 moles of C atoms = 2 x 12.01 g

„ 6 moles of H atoms = 6 x 1.008 g

„ 1 mole of O atoms = 1 x 16.00 g

„ the molar mass of ethanol is thus 46.07 g/mol

10

5
 Percent Composition of Compounds
„ when chemists synthesize a new compound, a sample is
generally sent to an analytical lab where its percent
composition is determined
Figure 3.5: Schematic diagram
of a combustion device used to
analyze substances for C and H

„ when a substance is burned in excess oxygen, the C and H

in the substance is converted to CO2 and H2O respectively
„ the experimentally determined percent composition is then

compared to the percent composition calculated from the

formula of the expected compound 11

Combustion Analysis
„ e.g. A 0.1156 g sample of a compound that is thought to be
CH5N is analyzed using a combustion device to give 0.1638
g of CO2 and 0.1676 g of H2O. Does the data obtained
agree with the expected chemical formula?
1 mol CO2 1 mol C 12.01 g C
0.1638 g CO 2 x x x =
44.01 g CO2 1 mol CO2 1 mol
1 mol H2O 2 mol H 1.008 g H
0.1676 g H2O x x x =
18.02 g H2O 1 mol H2O 1 mol

12

6
 Determining the Formula of a Compound
„ at times, a chemist isolates a chemical compound and has no
idea what it is - data from combustion analysis can
determine the chemical formula
„ e.g. A 15.000 g sample of a hydrocarbon is burned in excess

oxygen to give 50.769 g of CO2 and 10.386 g of H2O. What

is the chemical formula of the substance?
50.769 g CO2 x 1 mol CO2 x 1 mol C = 1.154 moles C
44.01 g CO2 1 mol CO2
1 mol H2O 2 mol H
10.386 g H2O x x = 1.153 moles H
18.02 g H2O 1 mol H2O
„ thus the formula of this compound can be written as CH

(this formula is called the empirical formula - it represents

the simplest whole-number ratio of the various types of
atoms in a compound) 13

Molecular Formula
„ the empirical formula may not represent the actual number
of atoms in a molecule
„ e.g. consider the empirical formula for the hydrocarbon

illustrated on the previous slide, CH

H
H H C H
C C
H C C H H C C C H
C C C
H C H
H H

„ in other words the real molecular formula may be equal to,

or some multiple of, the empirical formula (e.g. the method
on the previous slide gave us the empirical formula CH but
the real formula could be C2H2, C4H4 , C6H6 and so on)
14

7
 Molecular Formula (cont’d)
„ to find the multiplying factor, we must know the molar
mass of the compound (the molar mass of the compound is
determined from a separate experiment)
„ Method 1:

„ determine the empirical formula and compute the

empirical formula mass

„ determine ratio of molar mass and empirical formula

mass (a integer is obtained)

„ multiply the numerical subscripts of all the atoms in the

empirical formula by this integer to obtain the molecular

formula
„ Method 2: see example 3.7 for an alternative way to obtain

the molecular formula using the molar mass and mass

percentages of each element present 15

Example
„ A sample is found to contain 1.00 g Ni, 1.09 g O and 0.818 g
C. The compound has a molar mass of 170.7 g/mol.
Determine the empirical and molecular formula.
1.00 g Ni x 1 mol Ni = 0.0170 mol Ni
58.69 g Ni

1.09 g O x 1 mol O = 0.0681 mol O

16.00 g O

0.818 g C x 1 mol C = 0.0681 mol C

12.01 g C
„ empirical formula is Ni(1)O(4)C(4) or Ni(CO)4 (empirical
formula mass = 170.7 g/mol)
„ empirical formula mass is the same as molar mass hence
molecular formula is the same as the empirical formula 16