Student Instructional Material 1

Subject: Chemistry Type of Lesson: Lecture

Grade: 10 CSEC OBJ: State Avogadros Law (A3.2)
Term: 3 UNIT: MOLE CONCEPT
Duration: 45 minutes Lesson: 19
Week:7 State Avogadros Law and apply it in
calculations

Objectives
As a result of this lesson, you will be able to:
1) accurately state Avogadros Law
2) provide evidence in support of Avogadros Law
3) state the conditions for standard temperature and pressure (STP)
and room temperature and pressure (RTP)
4) recall the name and formulae of at least 10 common gases that you
will encounter during your study at the CSEC level
5) carry out simple calculations using Avogadros Law

Prerequisite Student Knowledge
You should be familiar with:
1) The value of Avogadros number, and its relevance in chemistry
2) Transposing a formula (mathematical) to make a particular
variable the subject
3) Calculating the molar mass
4) Converting between moles and number of particles

Important Points
Important points in this lesson:
1) Equal volumes of gases, under the same conditions of temperature
and pressure, contain equal number of molecules
2) Avogadros Law applies only to gases!
Key Terms
Avogadros Law Room temperature
and pressure (RTP)

Standard temperature
and pressure (STP)

Student Instructional Material 2
Challenge Areas
1) Explain why the molar volume measured at STP is different from
that at RTP.
2) Explain why the molar volume at RTP is greater than that at STP.

Equipment/Material Needed
Calculator, pencil, Periodic Table, textbook

Note to Student
Students often confuse Avogadros number and Avogadros Law.
Please make sure that you do not confuse the two. If you are unclear
about Avogadros number, review it at this point.

Avogadros Law applies only to gases. It is a common error made by
students to apply Avogadros Law to substances other than gases. To
be fore-warned is to be fore-armed!

Introduction
1) What a Gas!
a. In previous lessons on the Mole Concept we explored how
we measure amounts of substances in chemistry. In the next
few lessons, we will explore ways in which we can
measure and express amounts of gases. But first, carry out
the activity below.

i. Follow your teachers instructions to quickly form
groups of not more than five.
ii. Await a slip of paper which your teacher will pass
to a member of your group. This paper will contain
some information about a gas. The name of the gas
will be stated, its density at a particular temperature
and pressure, its R.A.M. and also the formula for
calculating density. Different groups will be given
different gases and different conditions of
temperature and pressure.
iii. You should transpose the formula given for density
to make volume the subject. Show this to your
teacher before proceeding.
iv. You will then need to find the mass of the gas that
you are given. (Do you realize that what is intended
by the use of the term mass in the formula is
molar mass?). How many moles of gas is
Notes

You will first have
to write down the
correct formula for
the gas first, and
then you will be
able to compute its
molar mass.

Student Instructional Material 3
represented by the molar mass? (Recall that by
definition, the molar mass is the mass of one mole).
v. Carry out the instructions given to calculate the
volume of the gas that you are assigned using the
relevant information. Your paper should look like
this.

Box 19.1: Calculation of Moles and Volumes of Gases














a. Select a member of your group to record the name, number of
moles, and volume of gas that you have computed in the
appropriate columns of the table provided on the board. The
table will look like this.

Table 19.1: Results of Calculations of Moles and Volumes

Name of gas # moles of gas Volume at
25
0
C, 1 atm
Volume at
0
0
C, 1 atm




i. Do you see anything noteworthy about the volumes
of gases in each column of the table? What do you
notice? (You should notice that for all the gases,
when measured at 25
0
C and 1 atm, the volume is
the same. The same is true for all the gases
measured at 0
0
C and 1 atm).
ii. Can you make a statement that will capture your
observation? Together, with the members of your
group, formulate a sentence that reflects what you
have observed. Each group should write their
statement on the board, and your teacher will lead a
What a Gas!

The density of oxygen at 25
0
C and 1 atmosphere of pressure is
1.33g dm
-3
. Density is found by dividing the mass of a substance by
its volume. Therefore if we have the density of a gas and its mass
then we can find its volume.
=
V
m
where is density, m is mass and V is volume.

Calculate the volume of oxygen.
The R.A.M. of oxygen is 16.

Notes

The molar mass
is the mass of
one mole.

Student Instructional Material 4
very short discussion to check the accuracy of each
groups statement, and to come up with a single
statement from the class.
iii. The statement that you wrote should convey
essentially this equal number of moles of all
gases occupy the same volume, when measured at
the same temperature and pressure. This statement
is the foundation of another very important
statement in chemistry known as Avogadros Law.
Avogadros Law is a relationship that was first
derived in 1811 by Amadeo Avogadro. The Law
actually states that: Equal numbers of molecules are
contained in equal volumes of gases, when
measured at the same temperature and pressure.
Can you see how Avogadros Law is related to the
statement that we wrote above? Take a few seconds
to think about it. If gases contain equal number of
molecules, does it mean that they also have equal
number of moles? Hmmmlet us see!
iv. In an earlier lesson, we explored the relationship
between number of particles and number of moles.
Therefore you already know how to calculate
number of moles given number of particles. To
answer our question above, we will work through a
quick example.



How many moles of oxygen are in 3.01 x 10
23

molecules of oxygen (O
2
)?

We know that:
1 mole O
2
contains 6.02 x 10
23
molecules
So how many moles of oxygen are contained in
3.01 x 10
23
molecules of oxygen?

Let us make how many moles = x. We can
therefore make the following statements:

1 mol O
2
contains 6.02 x 10
23
molecules
x mol O
2
contains 3.01 x 10
23
molecules

1 mol O
2
= 6.02 x 10
23
molecules
x mol O
2
= 3.01 x 10
23
molecules

Avogadros
Law
Equal volumes of
gases, measured
under the same
conditions of
temperature and
pressure, contain
equal number of
molecules
Notes

Remember now that 1
mole of a molecular
substance contains
Avogadros number of
molecules.
Student Instructional Material 5

x
1
= molecules
x
x
23
23
10 01 . 3
10 02 . 6



1
x
=
23
23
10 02 . 6
10 01 . 3
x
x
molecules

x = 0.5

0.5 mol O
2
contains 3.01 x 10
23
molecules

By carrying out similar calculations, you will
realize that 3.01 x 10
23
molecules of both nitrogen
and hydrogen also contain 0.5 mol of each gas
respectively. But do not take my word for it; try it
yourself!

v. If we now go back to our statements i.e. the one you
derived based on your calculation, and Avogadros
Law, you should realize that they are both the same!
vi. This means that the calculations that we have
carried out provide support for Avogadros Law!
Wow!!
vii. Two other statements that can be derived from
Avogadros Law, and from our calculations of the
gas volumes are:
1 mole of a gas occupies a volume of 24 dm
3
at
25
0
C and 1 atm
1 mole of a gas occupies a volume of 22.4 dm
3

at 0
0
C and 1 atm

b. We have been speaking of volumes of gases measured at
different temperatures and pressures. There are two conditions
under which temperature and pressure are usually measured.
Here we explore these a little.

i. Volumes taken at 25
0
C and 1 atm are referred to as
volumes measured at room temperature and
pressure (RTP)
ii. Volumes taken at 0
0
C and 1 atm are referred to as
volumes measured at standard temperature and
pressure (STP)
iii. We can therefore re-write our two statements above
to read:
1 mole of a gas occupies a volume of 24 dm
3
at RTP
Notes
Some common gases
that you will meet in your
study of chemistry at this
level are:
HCl N
2
SO
3

O
3
CO Ar
H
2
CO
2
NO
2
Cl
2
NH
3
F
2
Ne

SO
2
NO
He H
2
O O
2


Notes

Standard Temperature
and Pressure 0
0
C and
1 atm


Room Temperature and
Pressure- 25
0
C and 1
atm


Student Instructional Material 6
1 mole of a gas occupies a volume of 22.4
dm
3
at STP

Therefore 24 dm
3
and 22.4 dm
3
are called molar volume; this is
the volume occupied by one mole of a gas at RTP and STP
respectively.

c. Do you think that you might be ready to try a calculation of gas
volume now? OK, lets try a simple one.

Body of Lesson

1) Simple calculations using Avogadros Law.

a. What is the volume occupied by 0.5 mole of carbon dioxide at
RTP?

i. Now, we will start with the fact that 1 mole of any
gas occupies a volume of 24 dm
3
at RTP

Let us therefore make the volume that we wish to
find be x

We could therefore make two statements:

1 mole CO
2
occupies 24 dm
3
0.5 mole CO2

occupies x dm
3


1 mol = 24 dm
3

0.5 mol = x dm
3


5 . 0
1
=
3
3
24
xdm
dm


x = 24 x 0.5

x = 12 dm
3


b. Lets try a second calculation:
What is the volume occupied by 0.75 mol nitrogen dioxide at
STP?

As in the first example, we start with the statement that
1 mole of gas occupies 22.4 dm
3
at STP

Student Instructional Material 7
1 mol NO
2
occupies 22.4 dm
3

0.75 mol NO
2
occupies x dm
3


75 . 0
1
=
3
3
4 . 22
xdm
dm


x = 22.4 x 0.75

x = 16.8 dm
3


c. Lets attempt one more calculation before we wrap up:
What is the volume occupied by 2 moles of hydrogen at RTP?

As usual, we use the statement: 1 mole of gas occupies 24 dm
3

at RTP

1 mol H
2
occupies 24 dm
3

2 mol H
2
occupy x dm
3


2
1
=
3
3
24
xdm
dm


x = 24 x 2

x = 48 dm
3


Closure
In-Class Assignments
1) From the three examples worked above, do you notice a trend in
the way that the volume of gas is calculated? Discuss this in your
small groups for about a minute and then write down what the
common trend is. You should notice that in order to find the
volume of the gas, we always multiply the molar volume by the
number of moles i.e.
volume of gas = molar volume x number of moles

2) Now transpose this formula to make number of moles the subject.

Notes

Volume of gas

= molar volume x number of moles

Student Instructional Material 8
Out-of-Class Assignment

1) Find the number of moles of oxygen that would be represented by:
i. 33.6 dm
3
of oxygen at STP
ii. 8.96 dm
3
of hydrogen at STP
iii. 144 dm
3
of carbon dioxide at RTP
iv. 6 dm
3
of sulphur dioxide at RTP

You may choose to use the formula we derived above, or use a similar
format to that which we used in calculating the volumes of a gas. Use
the route which is more comfortable for you.

Supplemental
Glossary of Terms
Avogadros Law

Equal volumes of gases, measured under the
same conditions of temperature and pressure,
contain equal number of molecules

Room
temperature and
pressure

This is the condition when gas measurements are
taken at a temperature of 25
0
C and a pressure of
1 atm.

Standard
temperature and
pressure

This is the condition when gas measurements are
taken at a temperature of 0
0
C and a pressure of 1
atm.


CSEC Questions

1) The volume occupied by 1 mole of a gas at room temperature and
pressure is calculated to be 24 dm
3
. The volume occupied by 2
moles of oxygen gas (O
2
) at this temperature and pressure would
be
(A) 12 dm
3

(B) 24 dm
3

(C) 48 dm
3

(D) 96 dm
3

(MC Specimen Paper 1983)



Student Instructional Material 9
2) X and Y are two hydrocarbons. When X is completely burnt in air,
0.50 moles of X produce 60 dm
3
of CO
2
and 3 moles of water at
r.t.p.
(a) Deduce the molecular formula of X. (1 mole of a gas at r.t.p.
has a volume of 24 dm
3
)
May 2007 Paper 2, Ques 4(a)

Recommended Materials
http://www.docbrown.info/page04/4_73calcs09mvg.htm


Bibliography
Denial, M.; Davies, L.; Locke, A. & Reay, M. (1981). Investigating
Chemistry. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.

Lambert, N. & Mohammed, M. (1993). Chemistry for CXC. London:
Heinemann Educational Publishers.

Tindale, A. (1998). Chemistry: A concise revision course for CXC.
England: Stanley Thornes (Publishers) Ltd.

Caribbean Examination Council (2002). Chemistry Syllabus.
Barbados: CXC.