Moles: Putting Avogadro’s Number to Good Use

When people deal with objects, they often think in terms of a convenient amount. For example, when a woman buys earrings, she normally buys a pair of them. When a man goes to the grocery store, he buys eggs by the dozen. Likewise, when chemists deal with atoms and molecules, they need a convenient unit that takes into consideration the very small size of atoms and molecules. They use a unit called the mole.