In chemistry it is not a cute animal that lives in the ground.

A mole is the SI unit that describes the amount of a substance.

One mole = 6.02 x 10²³ objects

In chemistry the objects are atoms and molecules.

Let’s think how large a mole really is... Let’s think of things we see everyday!

• A mole of marshmallows would cover the planet Earth 12 miles high
• A mole of seconds would last so long, the universe would die out before it was done!
• 1 Mole of marbles would fill the entire Grand Canyon and there would still be enough left over to displace all the water in Lake Michigan and a few other lakes!
• Computers can count at the rate of over 800 million counts per second. At this rate it would take a computer over 25 million years to count to 6.02 x 10²³
• A mole of hockey pucks would be equal to the mass of the Moon.
• Assuming that each human being has 60 trillion body cells (6.0 x 10¹³) and the Earth's population is 6 billion (6 x 10⁹), the total number of living human body cells on the Earth at the present time is 3.6 x 10²³or a little over half of a mole.
• If one mole of pennies were divided up among the Earth's population, each person would receive 1 x 10¹⁴ pennies. Personal spending at the rate of one million dollars a day would use up each persons wealth in about three thousand years. Life would not be comfortable because the surface of the Earth would be covered in copper coins to a depth of at least 400 meters.

Activity for the mole concept

1 mole is 6.022x10²³ particles

Particles- ions, atoms, molecules, etc.

What if we where to have a mole of pennies?

Exercise 1

1-If we have a mole of pennies and divide them equally among the 6 billion people on earth how much money would each person receive? Please express answer in terms of dollars.

2-If you spend 1 million dollars a day how long would it be before you ran out of money? Express answers in days and years.

Exercise 2

Obtain 30 pennies from the teacher and stack them one on top of the other. Measure the height of the stack in centimeters. Record measurement.

A- What is the average height of a penny? Using the average height determine the height of a stack of 6.022x10²³ pennies in km.

B- How many light years is this? ( Light travels 3.00x10⁸ km per second)

C-How many round trips is this to the moon? (Distance to moon from earth 364,000 km)

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