AQA · OCR A · Amount of substance

A-level moles questions and practice

Choose a moles skill: basic amount calculations, mole ratios, reacting masses, solutions, gas volumes, limiting reagents, formulae, hydrated salts, yield or harder mixed questions.

Choose a skill

Choose the calculation you need

Pick a skill and you’ll get generated questions with worked feedback. Board controls change only where AQA and OCR A differ.

AQA · OCR AYear 12 Mass, Mr & moles Move confidently between mass, molar mass, amount and particle number. n = m/Mrmass ↔ molesAvogadro constant Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12+ Mole ratios Use balanced equations to convert one reacting amount into another. balanced equationscoefficientsstoichiometric ratio Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12+ Reacting masses Mass → moles → equation ratio → mass, including decomposition and multi-stage variants. mass → molesmole ratiomoles → mass Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12+ Solutions & concentration Use n = cV, prepare solutions and handle dilution without hiding the units. n = cVcm³ ↔ dm³dilutionmass concentration Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12+ Gas volumes Practise gas-volume ratios directly; OCR A mode also uses molar gas volume from the data sheet. gas-volume ratiogas stoichiometryOCR A molar gas volume Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12+ Limiting reagents Compare reacting amounts properly, calculate product and find reagent left in excess. limiting reagentmoles ÷ coefficientexcess remaining Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12+ Empirical & molecular formula Turn masses or percentages into simplest ratios, then use Mr to obtain molecular formulae. empirical formulawhole-number ratiomolecular formula Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12+ Hydrated salts Find x in salt·xH₂O from mass loss or percentage composition. mass lossmole ratiowater of crystallisation Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12+ Yield & atom economy Calculate theoretical yield, percentage yield and atom economy from balanced equations. theoretical yieldpercentage yieldatom economy Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12–13 Hard mixed questions Less signposted multi-stage amount-of-substance problems combining several skills. route selectionstoichiometryunitsmulti-stage reasoning Practise AQA · OCR AYear 12+ Ideal gas equationpV = nRT, unit conversions, Mr, decomposition and unfamiliar gas problems. pV = nRTPam³K Open established tool

Calculation route

Convert to moles, use the equation, then convert out

Start by identifying the quantity you have and converting it to moles. Mass uses Mr; solution data use concentration and volume; gas data use the route allowed by the question and board. Once you have moles, use the balanced equation to move to the next substance.

The practice keeps each stage visible, so if an answer goes wrong you can see whether the problem was the conversion, the equation ratio or the final step.

Convert inmass · solution · gas · particles Amountmoles Reactbalanced equation ratio Convert outmass · concentration · gas · formula

AQA and OCR A

What changes between the boards

AQA gas volumes

AQA gas-volume questions use reacting gas-volume ratios; molar gas volume is OCR A content. AQA still uses the ideal gas equation when that route is required.

OCR A gas data

The OCR A data sheet gives a molar gas volume of 24.0 dm³ mol⁻¹. If a question supplies a different molar gas volume, use the value in that question.

Ideal gas constant

OCR A uses R = 8.314 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ from its data sheet. AQA questions supply R = 8.31 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ in the question.

Most stoichiometry is shared

Mass, moles, equation ratios and most stoichiometry use the same chemistry on both boards. The board selector changes wording, supplied data or conventions where the specifications differ.