What does "one equivalent" mean in a chemistry experiment?

Question

I am researching some organic chemistry experiments and I'm not sure what this means. If the procedure states, "Use 150mg of piperonal and allow it to react with one equivalent of acetophenone," does that just mean 150mg of acetophenone as well?

Thanks!

Answer 1

No, I just did this experiment yesterday for a lab practical. You have to figure out the moles of piperonal. It ends up being .999. So that is rounded to 1. You have to use the equivalent amount of acetophenone. So that means you have to use 1 mole of acetophenone. 1mol of acetophenone is 120mg because its moelecular weight is 120.1.

Answer 2

As a chemist, I would be more inclined to add a molar equivalent. So the same number of moles of acetophenone as there are piperonal.

You can find this by

moles = mass / molecular weight

Answer 3

Yes, it means 150mg of acetophenone.

: )