What is formula mass and how is it calculated?

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What is formula mass and how is it calculated?

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Answer 1 · 2016-06-07T19:33:11

The formula mass of a molecule or species is simply the sum of the atomic masses of the constituent atoms in the formula of the compound.

Explanation:

The units of formula mass are thus $g \cdot m o l^{- 1}$ $g*mol^-1$ , or, more fundamentally, $amu = atomic mass units$ $"amu "=" atomic mass units"$ . As chemists, we typically deal with molar quantities, so units of $g \cdot m o l^{- 1}$ $g*mol^-1$ are appropriate.

So let's try to calclate the formula mass of $N a_{2} S O_{4}$ $Na_2SO_4$ in $g \cdot m o l^{- 1}$ $g*mol^-1$ .

$Formula mass N a_{2} S O_{4}$ $"Formula mass " Na_2SO_4$ $=$ $=$ $(2 \times 22.99 + 32.06 + 4 \times 15.999) \cdot g \cdot m o l^{- 1} = ? ? g \cdot m o l^{- 1}$ $(2xx22.99+32.06+4xx15.999)*g*mol^-1=??g*mol^-1$ . From where did I get those numbers?

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What is formula mass and how is it calculated?

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