Some Stoichiometric Musing

The term stoichiometry actually predates atomic theory. During the latter part of the eighteenth century, the German chemist Jeremias Benjanin Richter introduced the basic concept of the chemical gravimetric ratio based on the factual tabulation of quantitative changes during the chemical reaction process. He named this quantitative study of chemistry stoichiometry from two Greek words meaning to measure the magnitude of something that cannot be divided.

In modern usage, the term stoichiometry refers to the ratio proportion arithmetic that can be used describe chemical reactions. This arithmetic flows naturally from John Dalton's (picture above) 1803 atomic theory, and after more than two-hundred years, it is still the chemist's first insight into the atomic molecular world. In chemistry, learning to use stoichiometry is akin to learning to use a microscope that peers into the molecular realm. Not surprisingly, chemical educators are not in complete agreement about the methodology used to teach this important component of basic chemistry, but that's another story! Our Virtual Molecular Model Kit, a powerful tool for studying the 3D molecular world, may also be of interest to chemistry teachers and chemistry students.