Stoichiometry

stoichiometry

[‚stȯi·kē′äm·ə·trē]

(physical chemistry)

The numerical relationship of elements and compounds as reactants and products in chemical reactions.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Stoichiometry

 

in chemistry, the study of the quantitative relationships between the weights (volumes) of reacting substances. Stoichiometry includes the derivation of chemical formulas and chemical equations, and its principles are used in the calculations of chemical analysis. The term “stoichiometry” was introduced by J. Richter in his book Anfangsgründe der Stöchiometrie (vols. 1–3, 1792–94), in which he synthesized the results of his determinations of the weights of acids and bases during the formation of salts.

The major postulates of stoichiometry are derived from Avo- gadro’s law, Gay-Lussac’s law of combining volumes, the law of multiple proportions, the law of definite proportions, the principle of the conservation of mass, and the law of equivalent proportions. The rules of stoichiometry govern all calculations related to chemical equations. Stoichiometric calculations are widely used in chemical engineering and metallurgy.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.