INTRO TO STOICHIOMETRY:

DEFINING THE MOLE

CHRIS GODOY
EDT180














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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview: ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
Purpose ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Key Vocabulary Terms: ............................................................................................................................. 3
Resources & Materials: ............................................................................................................................. 4
Activities or Procedure: ................................................................................................................................. 5
Presentation .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Homework / Assessment: ......................................................................................................................... 7
Assessment Tool: Formulated Table ......................................................................................................... 7
Handouts ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
Density and Molar Mass Info Chart .......................................................................................................... 8
Periodic Table of Elements ....................................................................................................................... 8














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OVERVIEW:
To teach students the fundamentals necessary when finding stoichiometric ratios in moles.

PURPOSE: TO DEFINE THE MOLE AND INTRODUCE ITS APPLICATION IN STOICHIOMETRY.



OBJECTIVES(S):

BY THE END OF THIS LESSON, 10TH GRADE STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:

1. DEFINE A MOLE AND
2. MEASURE OUT A MOLE BY MASS OR VOLUME.


KEY VOCABULARY TERMS:
Mole: a measurement in the number of molecules present in any substance; 6.02 * 10^23



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RESOURCES & MATERIALS:

Teacher demonstration:

colored dot sticker
various stuffed moles, including one that can be ripped in half
cardboard mole labeled with "1 mole = 6.02 x 10
23
"
paper clips
overhead projector
test tubes each containing 1 mole of a common substance: Aluminum wire, iron filings,
water, sodium chloride (table salt), etc.


Each pair of students:

60 paper clips
solid aluminum blocks
balance
metric ruler













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ACTIVITIES OR PROCEDURE:
1. Teacher has a sticker on cheek and cuddles a stuffed mole in arms.

2. Write the word "mole" on the chalkboard. Ask the students what it means. As students suggest
the animal, toss the stuffed mole to the side and say that is not a chemistry mole. Rip off the
sticker and throw it away when they mention the beauty spot/skin blemish. Compare the
chemistry mole to a dozen. Explain that it represents a set group of things, 6.02 x 10
23
, just as a
dozen is 12 things. Write this value on the board both in scientific notation and expanded to
show all the zeros. Lean the cardboard mole against the chalkboard.

3. Scatter 36 paper clips on an overhead projector and ask a student to come up and count them.
Emphasize that a dozen is a method of counting and grouping objects. Pick up three stuffed
moles and explain that just as you can have three dozen paper clips, so you can have three
moles of paper clips. Change the number of paper clips on the overhead to 42 and repeat the
exercise. Point out that there can be fractions of a mole. Pick up a fourth stuffed mole that can
be ripped in half and suddenly rip it apart, while telling the class that there can be fractions of a
mole as well.

4. Hold up a test tube containing one mole of aluminum wire and ask the class how many atoms of
Al are in the tube. Hold up a test tube with one mole of H
2
O and ask how many molecules of
H
2
O are in the tube. Repeat with the other test tubes. Remind the class that a mole is a fixed
number of things just as a dozen is.

5. Give each pair of students a bag of sixty paper clips. One student is to count the paper clips as
quickly as possible, while the other records the time in seconds. Write the times on the
chalkboard and then have the students average them. Ask the students how long it would take
them to count out a mole of paper clips, helping them set up the proportions:


60 paper clips 6.02 x 10
23

=
recorded time X seconds

6. and then solve for X. Have them then convert this answer into minutes, hours, days, and finally
years; do not forget that a year is actually 365.25 days long, hence Leap Year. Is it reasonable to
count out a mole of paper clips? Of anything? No!




7. Hold up the test tube containing a mole of aluminum atoms and tell the class that you only
needed five minutes to put the mole of atoms into the tube. Repeat with the other tubes. How
could this be done? Remind the class that the average atomic mass of an atom of each element
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is listed in the Periodic Table. Explain that a mole of each atom happens to have that same mass
in grams. This is true since atomic masses are a comparison of each atom to the standard
carbon-12 atom:

Example:
1 carbon-12 atom 12.00 amus
=
1 hydrogen atom 1.0079 amus



Then as long as we have equal numbers of each atom, the ratio of their weights must be the
same. One mole of carbon-12 atoms just happens to weigh 12.00g, so one mole of hydrogen
atoms must weigh 1.0079 grams:

6.02 x 10
23
carbon-12 atoms 12.00 grams
=
6.02 x 10
23
hydrogen atoms 1.0079 grams

8. Ask again how to get a mole of aluminum atoms into a test tube in five minutes. Answer: weigh
it out! How much does a mole of Al weigh? Have the students check the periodic table. Repeat
with other familiar elements.

9. Give each pair of students a solid aluminum block and a metric ruler. Have them measure the
length, width, and thickness and then calculate the volume. What would be the volume of a
mole of such blocks? What assumptions would we have to make about the blocks in the mole?
Could we possibly use volume to measure out a mole quickly? Yes. The problem is what is the
volume of one atom of each element? Hold up any two of the test tubes each of which contains
a mole of a substance and have students note the differences in the volume. Have them
examine the Periodic Table for atomic volumes; they are not listed.

10. Which method is easiest then for measuring out a mole: counting, weighing, or using the
volume? Take your pick!

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PRESENTATION
The Mole!
Intro to Stoichiometry



HOMEWORK / ASSESSMENT:

Each pair of students will be given a sample of copper, nickel, tin,
sulfur, or silicon and told that they have 10 minutes in which to measure out a
mole of their element. All samples will be in either pellet or powder form.
Students will have a balance, a metric ruler, a periodic table, weighing paper,
and spatula to work with. They must measure out their mole, show the teacher
the mole as it sits on the balance or metric ruler, and then write a brief
description of the method they used.

ASSESSMENT TOOL: FORMULATED TABLE




Element Volume (cm3) Weight (g) moles of element Molecules of Element
Copper 27 3.81 2.29182E+24
Nickel 27 4.10 2.46747E+24
Tin (grey) 27 1.31 7.90039E+23
Sulfur (mixed 5.71 0.18 1.07202E+23
Silicon 5.71 0.20 1.22393E+23
sample student measurements
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HANDOUTS


DENSITY AND MOLAR MASS INFO CHART
Element Molar Mass (g/mol) Density (g/cm3)
Copper 63.546 8.96
Nickel 58.693 8.91
Tin (grey) 118.71 5.77
Sulfur (mixed) 32.065 2.07
Silicon 28.085 2.33




PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS