this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
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Science Memes

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[–] UraniumBlazer@lemm.ee 50 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Atomic mass is measured in u, not atoms. That would be moles.

[–] sift@lemmy.world 17 points 2 years ago (2 children)

And measuring in moles is way less crazy than measuring in eagles.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

Really? Now I have to go dig up some moles…

Which, ah, species is best here?

[–] cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I am a mole and I live in a hole!

[–] MarcomachtKuchen@feddit.de 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Im debating with myself whether moles are truly a units because unlike other units moles are just a conveniently large amount but unlike other units moles could fully be replaced by a factor

[–] Bumblefumble@lemm.ee 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah they aren't a unit in the sense that they make a non-quantifiable measure quantifiable. In dimensional analysis they would have the dimension [1]. But they can still be regarded as a unit since they act in the exact same way, just like other factors do. But yeah, they are more akin to the SI prefixes like kilo, or something like a dozen or a gross.

[–] pumpkinseedoil@mander.xyz 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'd say it's a constant, not a unit

[–] Bumblefumble@lemm.ee 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, that's fair. But it's used like a unit. Also, do you always browse year old posts?

[–] pumpkinseedoil@mander.xyz 1 points 5 months ago

No, I didn't even notice haha

This just popped up in my Lemmy feed

[–] batmaniam@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

A mole isn't just convenient. I'm sure there's a youtube somewhere that explains it but advagadros number is a product of the fact that: 1) every atom of an element has a weight (or at least an average) and 2) atoms interact in integer quantities. If you put those two together there is a common multiplier for a stochiometric equation that is related to the mass of a given atom in that stoichiometry. That multiplier is the the mole.

edit: I guess that's kind of a factor, but it's really more of an derived unit. If there was a new element discovered a mole would still describe it's stoichiometry, and IIRC that's how a lot of the periodic table was filled out my Mendelov.

[–] Turun@feddit.de 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

No it's simply a big number. We are stuck with it due to history, but at its core it's a dimensionless quantity. You can do every single calculation without moles. Sure, yo may have to adjust some constants (boltzman constant vs gas constant for example), but it's not a unit in the same sense a meter or a second is.

[–] batmaniam@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

I don't know exactly what you'd call it, but respectfully, it's not just a big number.

Ignoring other isotopes (which, all you need to do to adjust for that is use the weighted average), if you have 12 grams of carbon, 63 of copper, etc you will have 6.02E23 molecules of each. The value is implied by the fact that again, atoms have a consistent mass and react in integer quantities. A mol could have been any value, but that's like saying that a meter could have been as well. The existence of some value that marries the atomic mass of each element to a quantity of atoms is inherit the same way pi is inherit to a circle.

[–] TAYRN@lemmy.world 28 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Meanwhile, Brits will look you dead in the eye and say "I weigh 11 stone and 5 pounds"

[–] ma11en@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] crispy_kilt@feddit.de 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Nah, they still do it. A British person gave their weight in stone to me recently. I asked if they could give it in kg, they could not. I asked how much a stone is in kg, they did not know.

[–] ma11en@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Sorry, I meant my actual weight is 2 stone now than then!

[–] crispy_kilt@feddit.de 4 points 2 years ago

Oh, right. Mine is now 5 squared lakes.

[–] dylanTheDeveloper@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Bri#ish people be like "Oi love I got me here some jolly wogs how much is a stone gonna?"