How Many Carbon Atom Moles in One Mole of Sucrose?

Sugar cubes are made of sucrose. Larry Washburn / Getty Images

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Updated on December 02, 2019

One of the first questions you'll encounter when working with moles will ask you to determine the relationship between number of atoms in a compound and the number of moles (mol). (To refresh your memory, the mole is the SI unit identifying the number of particles in a given amount of matter.)

For example, how many moles of carbon (C) atoms are in 1 mole of table sugar (sucrose)?

The chemical formula of sucrose is C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁. When you are given a chemical formula, each one- or two-letter symbol stands for an element. C is carbon, H is hydrogen, and O is oxygen. The subscripts following each element symbol indicate the number of atoms of each element in the molecule.

So, 1 mole of sucrose contains 12 moles of carbon atoms, 22 moles of hydrogen atoms, and 11 moles of oxygen atoms. When you are talking about 1 mole of sucrose, it's the same as saying 1 mole of sucrose atoms, so there are Avogadro's number of atoms in one mole of sucrose (or carbon, or anything measured in moles).

There are 12 moles of C atoms in 1 mole of sucrose.

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Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "How Many Carbon Atom Moles in One Mole of Sucrose?" ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/number-of-atoms-v-moles-in-sucrose-609603. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2020, August 27). How Many Carbon Atom Moles in One Mole of Sucrose? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/number-of-atoms-v-moles-in-sucrose-609603 Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "How Many Carbon Atom Moles in One Mole of Sucrose?" ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/number-of-atoms-v-moles-in-sucrose-609603 (accessed June 2, 2023).