1. What is Molar Mass?

Molar mass is the mass of one mole of a substance (chemical element or chemical compound). It is a physical property defined as the mass of a given substance divided by the amount of substance in moles.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the formula:

Where:

• \( MW \) — Molar mass (g/mol)
• \( atomic\_masses \) — Array of atomic masses for each element in the compound

Explanation: The calculator parses the chemical formula, identifies each element and its count, then sums the atomic masses of all atoms in the molecule.

3. Importance of Molar Mass

Details: Molar mass is essential for stoichiometric calculations in chemistry, including converting between grams and moles, determining empirical formulas, and calculating solution concentrations.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the chemical formula using standard notation (e.g., H2O for water, C6H12O6 for glucose). Case matters - element symbols start with uppercase letters.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's the difference between molecular weight and molar mass?
A: While often used interchangeably, molecular weight is technically dimensionless (relative to 1/12 of carbon-12), while molar mass has units of g/mol.

Q2: How are atomic masses determined?
A: Atomic masses are weighted averages of all naturally occurring isotopes of an element, based on their abundance.

Q3: Can this calculator handle complex formulas?
A: This version handles basic formulas. For complex formulas with parentheses or charges, more advanced parsing is needed.

Q4: Why are atomic masses not whole numbers?
A: Most elements have multiple isotopes with different masses, and the atomic mass reflects the natural abundance-weighted average.

Q5: How accurate are these calculations?
A: The calculations use standard atomic weights from IUPAC. For precise work, isotope-specific masses may be needed.