Activity:

Objective: Students will understand the concept of the mole and how to convert between moles, particles, and mass.

Materials: - Large quantity of individual M&M’s (or other small, countable and uniform candies) - Digital or regular scale - Calculator

Instructions:

1. Give each student a handful of M&Ms.

2. Show the students that then can count the M&Ms one by one, if desired.

3. Explain that one mole of M&Ms is equal to 6.02 x 10^23 particles (one mole of M&Ms is equal to a Avogadro’s number of M&Ms). Explain that this number is too large to actually count, but it is helpful to have an understanding of the magnitude.

4. Have students calculate the number of M&Ms in their handful (if they hadn’t already done so).

5. Show the students a large bag of M&Ms and explain that one mole of M&Ms is equivalent to the mass of the this bag.

6. Place the bag of M&Ms on the digital or regular scale and have the students measure the mass. Have them record this number.

7. Show the students how to convert between moles, particles, and mass by having them apply their understanding from earlier steps.

8. (Optional) Provide the students with practice problems.

Practice Problems:

1. How many moles of M&M’s are represented by 2.5 x 10^23 particles?

Answer: 2.5 moles of M&Ms are represented by 2.5 x 10^23 particles.

1. How many particles of M&Ms are represented by 3.5 moles?

Answer: 3.5 moles of M&Ms are represented by 3.5 x 6.02 x 10^23 particles.

1. What is the mass, in grams, of 8 moles of M&Ms?

Answer: 8 moles of M&Ms is represented by 8 x the mass of the large bag of M&Ms. To calculate the mass, use the mass measured in step 6 and multiply by 8.

1. How many moles of M&Ms are represented by a mass of 120 g?

Answer: 120 g of M&Ms is represented by (120 g)/(the mass of the large bag of M&Ms). To calculate the number of moles, use the mass measured in step 6 and divide it into 120 g.