2.9: The Amount of Substance
- Page ID
- 49405
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Chemists use the mole so often to measure how much of a substance is present that it is convenient to have a name for the quantity which this unit measures. In the International System this quantity is called the amount of substance and is given the symbol n. Here again a common English word has been given a very specific scientific meaning. Although amount might refer to volume or mass in everyday speech, in chemistry it does not. When a chemist asks what amount of Br2 was added to a test tube, an answer like “0.0678 mol Br2” is expected. This would indicate that 0.0678 × 6.022 × 1023 or 4.08 × 1022, Br2 molecules had been added to the test tube.