Module 6 Intro

Module 6—Stoichiometry

Module Introduction

During your study in this course you have seen that chemical reactions are important to the function of the human body, to interactions in the biosphere, and to many technologies used today.

In this module you will study chemical reactions from a different perspective by looking at the quantities of each substance involved in the reaction. Investigating quantitative relationships involves asking questions like

• How much will react?

• How much will be produced by the reaction?

• How complete was the reaction?

Although understanding the quantity of matter involved in a chemical process is one of the more obvious aspects to consider when studying chemistry, you can only begin to ask it now. This unit will test your ability to manage and manipulate numerical data. You will also use numbers to help you keep track of the quantities of matter you are investigating.

Think about the following questions as you complete this module:

• How do scientists and engineers use mathematics when analyzing chemical change?
  
  

• How is a balanced chemical equation used to predict quantities of species involved in a chemical process?