Question

How many moles of carbon atoms are equivalent to $38.1g$ carbon?

Answer 1

The question is based on the concept of number of moles and Molar Mass of compound/element. One mole of any compound contains mass equal to its molar mass. In this question we are asked to find out the number of moles of carbon atom equivalent to $38.1$grams of carbon.

Complete step-by-step answer: Mole is simply a unit for counting entities at the microscopic level which includes molecules, atoms, ions etc. just as we use one dozen for twelve objects.
In this question we are asked to calculate a certain number of moles of carbon atoms.
We know that number of moles in any compound is given by the formula mentioned below,
Number of moles = $\dfrac{given\,mass}{Molar\,mass}$
We will use the above formula to calculate the number of moles of carbon atom equivalent to $38.1$ grams of carbon.
For this we should know the molar mass of Carbon. Once the molar mass is known it can be divided by the given mass in order to give the number of moles as stated in the above formula.
Molar Mass of carbon $\left( C \right)=12g/mol$
Given mass of carbon$(C)$ = $38.1$ grams
Using the Formula $number\,of\,moles=\,\,\dfrac{given\,mass}{molar\,mass}$ we get
$\begin{aligned} & number\,of\,moles\,=\,\,\dfrac{38.1}{12} \\\ & number\,of\,moles=3.175 \\\ \end{aligned}$ = $3.175$ moles of carbon
Hence the number of moles of carbon atom equivalent to $38.1$ of carbon is $3.175$ moles .

Note: The questions based on moles concept are often misunderstood by many. Determine your starting point and ending point to determine the number of corresponding steps that will be necessary. Always be careful in calculating the molar mass of compounds as a slight mistake can make the entire question wrong.