Mole concept??? Unit 1 Chemistry

[Kueru]

Hi, so right now in chemistry we're learning about Avogadros. The teacher is teaching us Relative atomic mass, mole concept, empirical formulas/molecular formulas and percentage composition.

The thing is, I literally understand everything in this chapter EXCEPT for the mole concept. Like, I can do the simple mole questions, but I'm hopeless on the more complicated ones. Also I have a SAC on this in like 2 days.

I think I'm going to fail (or get really poor grades) for this SAC......
Is the mole concept important for unit 3/4 Chemistry? If I get bad for this SAC, do you think my teacher is going to make me drop Chemistry??

[keltingmeith]

Is the mole concept important for unit 3/4 Chemistry? If I get bad for this SAC, do you think my teacher is going to make me drop Chemistry??

Yes and no.
If you don't understand the mole/stoichiometry by your first unit 3/4 SAC, you will have trouble. If you do bad on this SAC, though, I do not think your teacher will make you drop Chem.

The mole is a difficult concept to understand - believe me when I say, you're not the only person who has struggled with it. It's an entirely new way of thinking and quantifying elements, of COURSE you'll struggle at first.

The mole reappears in unit 2 when you cover stoichiometry - if you're struggling now, do your best to try and wrap your head around it, but know that you'll have a second chance.

I also suggest checking out various YouTube videos, Khan Academy videos, vTextbook, etc. What about the topic are you finding particularly difficult, if you don't mind my asking?

[Kueru]

Ahh thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one finding it difficult. The main part I'm struggling with is finding the right formula to use for which question. Like....I know all the formulas but I just don't know which one to use. 

By the way this doesn't really relate to moles but (please don't laugh at me) do you know what significant figures are? My teacher explained this but I forgot. Apparently we're supposed to round off the numbers using that.....

[keltingmeith]

Ahh thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one finding it difficult. The main part I'm struggling with is finding the right formula to use for which question. Like....I know all the formulas but I just don't know which one to use. 

In this case, I suggest getting a proper grounding in understanding what the mole is, as opposed to an individual molecule. This should help clear some things up, and clarify when to use the m=n/M equations and #molecules=Na*n equations.

By the way this doesn't really relate to moles but (please don't laugh at me) do you know what significant figures are? My teacher explained this but I forgot. Apparently we're supposed to round off the numbers using that.....

I suggest this series of videos.

[Kueru]

Oh my god thank you so much! I'm also going to ask my teacher about some questions on the mole concept,hopefully that will clear things up for me but yeah, it seems like a pretty complicated concept.

That video was helpful, thanks a lot! 

[keltingmeith]

That video was helpful, thanks a lot! 

Make sure to watch the follow-ups of the series - that video by itself does not teach significant figures, only two of the six or so rules.

[Unblemished]

Hi, so right now in chemistry we're learning about Avogadros. The teacher is teaching us Relative atomic mass, mole concept, empirical formulas/molecular formulas and percentage composition.

The thing is, I literally understand everything in this chapter EXCEPT for the mole concept. Like, I can do the simple mole questions, but I'm hopeless on the more complicated ones. Also I have a SAC on this in like 2 days.

I think I'm going to fail (or get really poor grades) for this SAC......
Is the mole concept important for unit 3/4 Chemistry? If I get bad for this SAC, do you think my teacher is going to make me drop Chemistry??

The mole formula is essentially a single concept with different components (think of it like a 3 in one formula). You have to carefully read the question, just jot down what you think it's asking
Eg. mass = ?
now for mass you need the following formula: m = n*M
Now try to work out 'n' from the given information.

The concept itself takes a while to get used to and only exposure to different types of questions will help.