The Mole and Avogadro's Constant

Lab Brief #2

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.

What you'll learn

A mole is the amount of substance containing 6.02 × 10²³ particles — Avogadro's constant. One mole of any substance has a mass in grams equal to its relative formula mass, which is what makes counting atoms by weighing possible.

Key words

mole
The amount of substance containing 6.02 × 10²³ particles.
Avogadro's constant
6.02 × 10²³, the number of particles in one mole.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

balance
water
sodium chloride
copper sulfate
weighing boats
spatula

Get ready

⚠️ Safety first

Copper sulfate is harmful if swallowed and stains skin — wear gloves and goggles and wash hands after.
Do not pour copper sulfate down the sink; use the labelled waste container.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Think about what you just learned: say what "mole" and "Avogadro's constant" mean in your own words before you start.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Weigh out one mole of water, one of sodium chloride and one-tenth of a mole of copper sulfate. Line the samples up and note how different the volumes look despite equal particle counts.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Question 1 of 2

How many particles are in one mole?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 2

The mass of one mole of water (Mr = 18) is:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 2 right.

Next: Moles, Mass and Formula Mass All lessons

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”

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