Molar mass is the mass of one mole of a substance. It is expressed in units of grams per mole (g/mol). To calculate the molar mass of a compound, you sum up the atomic masses of all the atoms in its molecular formula. For example, to calculate the molar mass of nitric oxide (NO), you add the atomic mass of nitrogen (\[\text{N} = 14\, \text{g/mol} \]) and oxygen (\\(\text{O} = 16\, \text{g/mol}\)), resulting in \(30\, \text{g/mol}\).
The process involves a few steps:
- Identify the elements in the compound.
- Use the periodic table to find each element's atomic mass.
- Multiply the atomic mass by the number of times the element appears in the compound.
- Add the results together to get the total molar mass.
This calculation helps to understand how much one mole of that substance weighs, which is crucial in stoichiometry for relating the mass of a substance to the amount of substance present in moles.