What is a Mole? (The Chemist's Dozen)
In chemistry, a mole is a unit used to count very small things like atoms, molecules, or ions. Since these particles are too tiny to count individually, chemists use the mole as a convenient "counting unit." Just like a "dozen" always means 12, a "mole" always means a specific, very large number of particles: 6.022 x 10²³.
This number is called Avogadro's number (NA). It acts as a bridge, allowing us to convert between the amounts we can measure in the lab (like grams or liters) and the actual number of individual particles involved in chemical reactions.