What is the molar mass of phosphorus?

1 Answer
May 22, 2017

#123.88 "g"/"mol"#

Explanation:

Step 1. Determine how many of each type of atom there are in the chemical formula #"P"_4#

#" "#In this case, there are 4 phosphorous atoms per molecule

Step 2. Determine the mass of phosphorous from the periodic table
![ptable.com](useruploads.socratic.org)
Because the atomic mass of phosphorous is 30.97 amu, we can say the mass is

#m=4xx30.97=123.88 "g"/"mol"#

This means that 1 mol of #"P"_4# weighs 123.88 grams.

[NOTE: If you only wanted the molar mass of single atoms of phosphorous, then #m=30.97 "g"/"mol"#; That is a mole of isolated phosphorous atoms would weigh 30.97 grams.]