A molecular weight calculator is an online tool that is used to calculate the molecular weight. Molecular weight is a measure of the total value of the atomic weight of the atoms in a molecule. It’s also referred to as molar mass and defined as the mass of any sample divided by the substance mole in a sample. Another less common definition of molar weight is an average of many instances of a compound. Molar mass is gotten by dividing the mass of a substance by its molecular value. The SI unit of molecular mass is grams per mol-1. It can also be presented as kilograms per mol -1. To understand the concept of molar weight, you first need to understand the definition of come terms associated with the concept.
Definition of important terms associated with molar mass or molar weight
- Chemical compound- a chemical compound is a chemical substance that is composed of several identical molecules. The molecules are composed of atoms from several elements. The elements are bound together by a chemical bond.
- Chemical bond- a chemical bond can be defined as a strong attraction between different chemical elements like atoms, ions, and molecules. Chemical bonds are responsible for the formation of chemical compounds. There are three types of chemical bonds; covalent and ionic and metallic. Ionic bonds are those that occur as a result of electrostatic force, while covalent bonds are a result of sharing on electrons.
- Molecule- a molecule is an electrically neutral group of a couple of atoms that are bound by a chemical bond or more.
- Atoms– an atom is the smallest and the most constituent of standard matter. An atom constitutes a chemical element. All forms of matter (liquid, gas, solid, and plasma) are composed of either neutral or ionized atoms. Ionized atoms are those that get their positive or negative charge from gaining or losing electrons.
- Standard atomic weight- this is the mathematical mean of the relative atomic mass of an isotope. The relationship between molar mass and standard atomic weight is that it is computed from the standard atomic weights of isotopes that constitute the atoms in the earth.
- Atomic weight- there is a very small difference between standard atomic weight and atomic weight. Atomic weight refers to the mass is a single atom of an element or the average mass of an atom as it is found naturally on the surface of the earth.
- Isotope- an isotope is a variant of a specific chemical element. It can also be defined as the difference between a neutron number and its constituency.
- Mass- Mass is presented in Kilograms or meters. It refers the property of any physical body and its resistance to change in the state of motion when a specific amount of force is applied.
Conclusion
Just to be clear, the molar mass is a bulk property of a substance and not its atomic property. The molar weight of a substance is an intensive property. This means that it does not change with the size of the substance or sample. The molar mass can also be used to convert the mass of a substance to the mole and the other way around.
