This large number is approximately equal to the number of protons in a gram of pure protons. It is customary to introduce the term 'gram molecule' into explanations of the importance of this number:
a gram molecule is a mole of the molecules:Possibly of aristocratic descent, he was a lawyer until he decided to devote himself to one of his other interests: in his late twenties he was appointed to the first chair in mathematical physics in Italy, at L' Universita` di Torino. Avogadro was the first to publish (in 1811) the idea that elements could exist as molecules - a latin word that he adopted for his hypothesis (which he wrote in French): explaining why mixing a volume of hydrogen gas with an equal volume of chlorine gas does not result in a doubling in the volume of gas.
He died in 1856, this contribution to science was not recognised until 1860, when Stanislao Canizzaro , a co-national who for many years had been teaching a course of lectures on why Avogadro had been wrongfully ignored, was persuaded to propound his views at a conference in Karlsruhe, Germany - not far up from Heidelberg in the valley of the Rhine.
The basis for the number named after Avogadro is the number of atoms of 12Carbon in 12 grams of 12Carbon.
Below we show two pictures: one is a poor representation of a great Italian theoretician: the other a good representation of a poorly spelled Italian theoretician. We implore our students to notice the differences.