Because it puts all of the chemicals on an equal footing. Since different atoms weigh different amounts we have to have a way of comparing numbers of atoms to one another. Since atoms are very small, we need a very large number of them in order to see and weigh them. Truth is, we could have picked any arbitrarily large number of atoms to use as our comparison, like comparing a trillion atoms of sulfur to a trillion atoms of carbon but instead we chose 6.02[math]\times[/math]10[math]^{23}[/math] atoms as our point of comparison. This number has a name. We call it a mole. So we use this number and its name so that when we want to compare amounts of a substance we are always using a fair comparison. It is easy to say that one atom of carbon reacts with two atoms of sulfur but by scaling it up we can say that one mole of carbon reacts with two moles of sulfur. So the use of the term “mole” is really just a scaling factor that allows us to make correct comparisons and deal with masses of elements that can be easily measured. As to why 6.02[math]\times[/math]10[math]^{23}[/math] atoms were chosen as the number of atoms in a mole would require a history lesson and a much longer answer
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Answer:
Because it puts all of the chemicals on an equal footing. Since different atoms weigh different amounts we have to have a way of comparing numbers of atoms to one another. Since atoms are very small, we need a very large number of them in order to see and weigh them. Truth is, we could have picked any arbitrarily large number of atoms to use as our comparison, like comparing a trillion atoms of sulfur to a trillion atoms of carbon but instead we chose 6.02[math]\times[/math]10[math]^{23}[/math] atoms as our point of comparison. This number has a name. We call it a mole. So we use this number and its name so that when we want to compare amounts of a substance we are always using a fair comparison. It is easy to say that one atom of carbon reacts with two atoms of sulfur but by scaling it up we can say that one mole of carbon reacts with two moles of sulfur. So the use of the term “mole” is really just a scaling factor that allows us to make correct comparisons and deal with masses of elements that can be easily measured. As to why 6.02[math]\times[/math]10[math]^{23}[/math] atoms were chosen as the number of atoms in a mole would require a history lesson and a much longer answer
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