←
Lesson 15 · Reading the label
The label speaks in units
score 0

The label speaks in units

Every bottle in a chemistry lab introduces itself the same way: a number, and the unit it wears. mol/L is a molar concentration — moles of dissolved stuff per litre of solution, written C=nVC = \dfrac{n}{V} and read aloud: C equals n over V. Chemists nickname it molarity, and a 2 mol/L bottle gets called “two molar” — written 2 M for short.

The slash is the tell. mol/L divides a mole count by a volume — that is molarity. A % divides a mass by a mass — that is mass percent, every unit cancelled. And a number in bare grams or bare moles is not a concentration at all — it is an amount, still waiting for its water. Read the unit before the number, and the label can never fool you.

VCn

C=nVC = \frac{n}{V}

  • CC= Molar concentration (molar concentration)
  • nn= Amount of solute (amount of substance)
  • VV= Volume of solution (volume)
Molarity (C = n/V) solver →
msolutemsolutionc

c=msolutemsolution×100%c = \frac{m_{\text{solute}}}{m_{\text{solution}}} \times 100\%

  • cc= Mass percent (concentration)
  • msolutem_{\text{solute}}= Mass of solute (mass)
  • msolutionm_{\text{solution}}= Mass of solution (mass)
Mass Percent of a Solution solver →