Avogadro's number

Avogadro's number, also called Avogadro's constant (NA) is a large constant used in chemistry and physics. Avogadro's number is formally defined as the number of carbon-12 atoms in 12 grams (0.012 kg) of carbon-12, which is approximately 6.022 × 1023. Historically, carbon-12 was chosen as the reference substance because its atomic mass could be measured particularly accurately.

Avogadro's number in life

Avogadro's number often yields practical reasonings in real life. For example, the fact that a known number of atoms are in a given amount of a substance is one reason for scientific criticism of homeopathy, in which medicinal substances are often diluted to the extent that a simple calculation involving Avogadro's number would imply that less than a single molecule remains.

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