Chemistry: Molecular weight percentages

Calculating the mass percentages of the elements in benzene after calculating the molecular weight of benzene. 

Chemistry

Did you know that everything is made out of chemicals? Chemistry is the study of matter: its composition, properties, and reactivity. This material roughly covers a first-year high school or college course, and a good understanding of algebra is helpful.

Molecular composition

We'll now explore two different ways of representing what elements are in a molecule: molecular and empirical formulas. Molecular formulas actually represent the number of atoms in a molecule while empirical formulas show us the ratio of the constituents based on experiments. In order to help us connect these ideas, we'll also explore a quantity called the "mole". Just as a "dozen" represents 12 of something, a "mole" represents roughly 602,200,000,000,000,000,000,000 of something. This will help us think about mass composition of molecules.

Topic: Science

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