Question

Use the ball and stick models above. If you had a gram of water and a gram of

oxygen, which substance would you have more particles of? Why? (Right or Wrong)

Answer 1

You would have more particles of water.

Step-by-step explanation:

Water (H₂O) is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The ball and stick models represent individual atoms, and in the case of water, you have a total of three atoms per molecule.

On the other hand, oxygen (O₂) exists as diatomic molecules, meaning two oxygen atoms are bonded together. So, in a gram of water, you have more particles because each water molecule consists of three atoms, while in a gram of oxygen, you have fewer particles as each molecule only contains two atoms.

To elaborate, the molecular formula of water, H₂O, indicates that each water molecule comprises two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The ball and stick models visually represent these atoms, allowing us to count them. In contrast, oxygen molecules exist as O₂, meaning two oxygen atoms share a bond.

Consequently, in a gram of water, you are accounting for three separate atoms (two hydrogen and one oxygen), whereas in a gram of oxygen, you are considering only two atoms. This fundamental difference in molecular composition accounts for why you would have more particles in a gram of water compared to a gram of oxygen.

Answer 2

When the weather is nice, many people begin to work on their yards and homes. For many projects, sand is needed as a foundation for a walk or to add to other materials. You could order up twenty million grains of sand and have people really stare at you. You could order by the pound, but that takes a lot of time weighing out. The best bet is to order by the yard, meaning a cubic yard. The loader can easily scoop up what you need and put it directly in your truck.

Avogadro’s Number

It certainly is easy to count bananas or to count elephants (as long as you stay out of their way). However, you would be counting grains of sugar from your sugar canister for a long, long time. Atoms and molecules are extremely small – far, far smaller than grains of sugar. Counting atoms or molecules is not only unwise, it is absolutely impossible. One drop of water contains about 10 22 molecules of water. If you counted 10 molecules every second for 50 years without stopping you would have counted only 1.6 × 10 10 molecules. Put another way, at that counting rate, it would take you over 30 trillion years to count the water molecules in one tiny drop.

Step-by-step explanation: