Determine the number of moles

Question

Glycine is an amino acid with the formula C2H5NO2. Determine the number of moles of carbon in 81.77g of glycine.

Answer 1

Note that 1 mole of glycine (C2H5NO2) contains 2 moles of carbon (C). Using dimensional analysis, we can find the moles of C in 81.77 g of glycine as follows:

molar mass of glycine = 75.1 g/mol

81.77 g glycine x 1 mol glycine / 75.1 g x 2 mols C / mol glycine = 2.18 mols of C