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What happens when you divide grams by gmol⁻¹

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Final answer:

Dividing grams by grams per mole results in the unit moles (mol), which is used to express the amount of substance in chemistry. This is a fundamental step in stoichiometry for converting mass to moles using the molar mass as the conversion factor.

Step-by-step explanation:

When you divide grams (g) by grams per mole (g/mol), you are performing a unit conversion from mass to amount of substance. This process is often used in chemistry to determine the number of moles present in a given mass of a substance. The factor-label method facilitates this conversion by cancelling out the gram units, thereby leaving the moles as the resulting unit. For example, dividing the mass of a substance (in grams) by its molar mass (in grams per mole) tells us how many moles of that substance we have.

To calculate the molecular formula of the substance, you would need the amount of grams per mole used in the solution, divide this by the molecular mass of the substance, and thus obtain the number of moles. The simplest manipulation using molar mass as a conversion factor is often a gram-mole conversion. This process is crucial for stoichiometric calculations in chemistry where amounts of reactants and products in a chemical reaction are calculated.

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