Re: Aviatros number?

Hey, G. M.... I love your email address!  Here's the scoop on AVOGADRO's 
number.   

Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro was an italian lawyer who saw the light 
and became a scientist.  In fact, he became a mathematical physicist.  In 1811, 
he suggested that "equal volumes of gases under the same conditions have
equal numbers of molecules."  This was as far as Avogadro got, and the idea 
was not well accepted.  In 1860, 4 years after Avogadro's death, Cannizzaro 
convinced other scientists that Avogadro's hypothesis was correct.  However, 
the "chemical counting unit" known as the mole did not come about until 1896, 
when Wilhelm Ostwald coined this term from Latin (moles = heap or pile).

Mole = the amount of pure substance that contains as many particles as there 
are atoms in exactly 12 grams of carbon-12 isotope.  This number of particles 
is approximately 6.022 x 10(exp23).


Good luck with your assignment, and have fun!

jt