The Avogadro Constant for the Definition and Realization of the Mole

Abstract

AbstractThe International System of Units’ (SI) base unit of the quantity “amount of substance” is the mole (symbol: mol). After the revision of the SI to be implemented in 2019, when all SI units will be based solely on constants, the mole will be defined through a fixed value of the Avogadro constant NA. One mole contains exactly 6.02214076 × 1023 elementary entities, meaning the mole will no longer be linked to the kilogram. Currently, the mole is defined via the mass of exactly 0.012 kg of the 12C isotope which links it to the kilogram prototype. The history, changes, and implications of the revised definition of the mole are discussed here from the chemist's point of view. The ability to count entities such as atoms or molecules (precisely enough to enable a revision of the SI and preserve consistency of previous and future measurements) is crucial. This is achieved with the realization (Mise en Pratique) based on the X‐ray‐crystal density (XRCD) method (counting the atoms in a silicon sphere). The determination of NA, focusing on the measurement of the molar mass of silicon highly enriched in the 28Si isotope, with the lowest uncertainty so far, is presented.