[cliverlong]

Hi,

   I am finding it difficult to explain or identify the key link between the mass measurements performed in an experiment and the deductions that can be made from that data about the stoichiometry (i.e. number of moles) in the underlying reaction.

I know if one accepts the idea of relative atomic mass and formula mass being used to express the relationship between measured mass to amounts of atoms and molecules reacting in an experiment, then one can work out the stoichiometry.

But how does one arrive at such a link and apply it to the data gathered in simple experiments?

I'm thinking that the link is somewhere in the basic ideas of Dalton's simple proportions and Lavoisier's detailed measurements. But I still get stuck if I think what conclusions I would draw about the ratios of reactants and products if I conducted well designed experiments and took accurate measurements. I wouldn't be able to get beyond the "ratios" being purely based on the macroscopic empirical measured mass.

So is the link purely theoretical or are there some other key experiments I need to understand?


Thanks

Clive

[Borek]

Avogadro hypothesis comes to mind.

Note that it is all relative - if you will be able to show that it works for one case, you can realatively easy show it works for all other cases as well. You just have to find some point of reference.