2/23/2015

HowToConvertAtomicPercentToWeightPercentAndViceVersa|TerraMagnetica

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HowToConvertAtomicPercentToWeightPercentAndVice
Versa
Wed,Aug12,2009
Tools

In the course of reviewing information on metals and minerals, I often come across chemical
compositioninformationthatiswrittenintermsofatomicpercent,whenIamactuallymoreinterested
intheweightpercentvaluesoftheelementsinvolved.AlittlelessfrequentlyIwanttodothingsthe
otherwayaround,anddoaconversionfromweightpercenttoatomicpercent.
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After searching online, Ive noticed that what little conversion information is out there, is
unnecessarily complicated. So, I thought Id share the simple but trusty formulae that I have had
pinnedononewalloranotherforthepastcoupleofdecades

A)Convertingfromatomicpercenttoweightpercent:
1. For each element listed in the compound, multiply the atomic percent of the element by its
atomicweight[thelargerofthetwoprincipalnumberslistedforeachelementinthestandard
periodictable].Foreachelement,letscallthisvaluep.
2. Addallthevaluesofptogether,andletscallthisvaluep(Total).
3. Now,foreachvalueofp,divideitbyp(Total),toobtainw.
4. Multiplying the resulting values of w by 100 gives us the weight percent values, for each
respectiveelementinthestartingcompound.
Example:weencounteraneodymiumbasedpermanentmagnetmaterialwhosecompositionislisted,
inatomicpercentterms,asbeing15%Nd,77%Feand8%B.
FollowingStep1above,wefirstobtaintheatomicweightsforeachelement.Totwosignificant
figures,theseare:Nd144.24,Fe55.85andB10.81.
CompletingStep1resultsinvaluesofp(Nd)=2163.60,p(Fe)=4300.07andp(B)=86.49.
FollowingStep2,p(Total)hasavalueof6550.15.
FollowingStep3,thisresultsinvaluesofw(Nd)=0.33,w(Fe)=0.66andw(B)=0.01.
FollowingStep4resultsinthefinalvalues,inweightpercentterms,of33%Nd,66%Feand
1%B.

B)Convertingfromweightpercenttoatomicpercent:
1. Foreachelementlistedinthecompound,dividetheweightpercentoftheelementbyitsatomic
weight.Foreachelement,letscallthisvaluem.
2. Addallthevaluesofmtogether,andletscallthisvaluem(Total).
3. Now,foreachvalueofm,divideitbym(Total),toobtaina.
4. Multiplying the resulting values of a by 100 gives us the atomic percent values, for each
respectiveelementinthestartingcompound.
Example:weencounterasamariumbasedpermanentmagnetmaterialwhosecompositionislisted,in
weightpercentterms,asbeing34%Smand66%Co.
FollowingStep1above,wefirstobtaintheatomicweightsforeachelement.Totwosignificant
figures,theseare:Sm150.35andCo58.99.
CompletingStep1resultsinvaluesofm(Sm)=0.23andm(Co)=1.12.
FollowingStep2,m(Total)hasavalueof1.35.
FollowingStep3,thisresultsinvaluesofa(Sm)=0.17anda(Co)=0.83.
FollowingStep4resultsinthefinalvalues,inatomicpercentterms,of17%Smand83%Co.
Thereisoneotherscenariothatwesometimesencounter,relatedtoA)above,butwhichinvolvesthe
chemicalformulaforaparticularmetallurgicalphase:

C)Convertingfromchemicalformulatoweightpercent:
1. Foreachelementlistedinthecompound,multiplythenumberofatomsoftheelementbyits
atomicweight.Foreachelement,letscallthisvaluer.
2. Addallthevaluesofrtogether,andletscallthisvaluer(Total).
3. Now,foreachvalueofr,divideitbyr(Total),toobtainw.
4. Multiplying the resulting values of w by 100 gives us the weight percent values, for each
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respectiveelementinthestartingcompound.
Example:welooktoevaluatethemainhardmagneticphaseinneodymiumbasedpermanentmagnet
material,whosechemicalformulaconsistsof2atomsofNd,14atomsofFeand1atomofB[i.e.the
socalled2141stoichiometriccomposition].
FollowingStep1above,wefirstobtaintheatomicweightsforeachelement.Totwosignificant
figures,theseare:Nd144.24,Fe55.85andB10.81.
CompletingStep1resultsinvaluesofr(Nd)=288.84,r(Fe)=781.83andr(B)=10.81.
FollowingStep2,r(Total)hasavalueof1081.48.
FollowingStep3,thisresultsinvaluesofw(Nd)=0.27,w(Fe)=0.72andw(B)=0.01.
FollowingStep4resultsinthefinalvalues,inweightpercentterms,of27%Nd,72%Feand
1%B.
Increasingthenumberofsignificantfiguresinthevariousvalueswillincreasetheaccuracyofthe
calculations,butyoullprobablyfindthatyoudontneedtogettoomuchmoredetailedthanIdid,in
theexamplesabove.
Ihopethatthisisofsomeusetoyoufeelfreetocommentorsuggestothertopicsfordiscussionor
review.
atomicpercent,permanentmagnets,weightpercent

Thispostwaswrittenby:
GarethHatchwhohaswritten67postsonTerraMagnetica.
GarethisaFoundingPrincipalatTechnologyMetalsResearch,LLC.Hehasexpertiseinavarietyof
magneticmaterials,devicesandapplications,andtheirassociatedtrendsandchallenges,particularly
forrenewableenergyproduction.Formoreinformationcheckouthisbiographypage.Don'tforgetto
checkoutTerraMagneticaatTwittertoo.
Contacttheauthor

25ResponsestoHowToConvertAtomicPercentToWeight
PercentAndViceVersa
1.
MBSays:
September2nd,2009at11:30am
Thiswasthebestanswertomyproblem.
Thanks,
M

2.
JKRSays:
November12th,2009at7:23am
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Itissuperb

3.
AwwSays:
December12th,2009at5:25pm
Thiswasveryuseful!ThankYouverymuch!!:)

4.
mariaSays:
January21st,2010at9:34pm
ThisisthebestsolutiontomyhomeworkproblemsthatIamfacinginmycivilandmaterials
engineeringclass.Ihavebeenlookingonlineandthroughchemistrybooksforlastthreehours.
thankssomuch

5.
alexSays:
January29th,2010at6:30pm
ThisisthebestandeasiestsolutionEVERpresentedtotheseproblems.

6.
PierreSays:
February11th,2010at11:16pm
Excellentwork,Thankyou

7.
senSays:
May7th,2010at6:00am
Itsveryusefulthankyou.

8.
hectorSays:
June6th,2010at12:28am
muchasgraciasestoesalgoquemebaaayudarmasenmitrabajoporqueyosoymetalsorter
pormasde25anos,conoscotodotipodemetalesperomeespecializoenrefractorymetals.
GRACIASDENUEVO.Iwaslookingforthisinformationformanyyears,sothanyouvery
muchsincerely

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9.
alexSays:
October13th,2010at7:25pm
WhatifIhaveanalloycomposite?SayIhaveanalloymadeupof1.5wt%Al2O3and98.5
wt%ZnO.HowwouldIcalculatetheatomicpercentofeachelementinthiscomposite?

10.
heheheSays:
April11th,2011at10:46am
simpleway.chemist!!!!
anyquestionaboutchemistryofNdFeBorSmCoaskufforHEHEHE,truespecialist
andveryknowledgeableaboutthesematerials.
Nd2Fe14B
wt%
Nd2*144.24=288.48=288.48/1081.121=0.26683414726.68341471
Fe14*55.85=781.83=781.83/1081.121=0.72316604772.31660471
B1*10.811=10.811=10.811/1081.121=0.0099998060.999980576
Sum:
1081.121

11.
MurliGopalKrishnamoortySays:
July7th,2011at11:16am
Itwaspossibletocalculateawholerangeofalloycompositionsinaspreadsheetandplot
ternarysystemsbothinat.%andwt.%.EarlierIusedtotaketheratioofnumberofatomsusing
AvagadroNumberandtakepercentagetobemoresytematic
Icrosscheckedwith
http://www1.asminternational.org/asmenterprise/apd/WeightConverter.aspx
Anotherusefullinkforplottingaternarysystemis
http://www.phasediagram.dk/Triangular.XLSX
Thanksandregards
dr_murli

12.
KashmiraTankSays:
July8th,2011at7:00am
Iwouldliketoaskonequestion,ashowwecancovertat%intowt%forthechemicalformula
suchasCa10(PO4)6(OH)2,astheexampleisgivenforNd2Fe14B,Butwhatabouthydrogen,
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whichcannotdetectedinEDAX?

13.
??????Says:
July14th,2011at8:52am
Iamverygrateful!

14.
meenaSays:
August26th,2011at8:03am
Iwouldliketoaskonequestion,howtocalculateatomicratioformetal

15.
shanthiniSays:
May12th,2012at1:30pm
VeryNice!!!!

16.
SangSays:
June21st,2012at1:35am
Good!
Ihaveaquery.Ihaveaproteinbasedsubstancewhichhassomeamountofcalciumcarbonate
init.Iknowtheweightpercent(3.5%)andatomicpercent(4.4%)ofcalciuminit.HowwillI
determinethetotalcalciumcarbonatepresentinmysubstance?

17.
hanaSays:
October1st,2012at4:16am
whatifIwantedtopreparesomenanomaterialthatshouldconsist99wt.%ZnOand1%Ag?
howshouldIcalculatehowmuchstartingmaterialIneeded?beforethisIusedtodeterminethe
percentagebycalculatingthenumberofmoles.butImnotsureifitstherightway.

18.
DaisySays:
January17th,2013at12:51pm
Thanks!!itsveryusefullinformationtohaveonhand.
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19.
LimSLSays:
March11th,2013at11:53pm
Thankyou,Gareth!Averywellwrittenarticle,andveryuseful!!
Cheers,
LimSL

20.
k.sSays:
April30th,2013at4:29am
Thisisthebestanswertomyproblem.Thankyousomuch.

21.
wownewsSays:
June11th,2013at7:38am
thisisaveryusefulwebsite!

22.
2014FordCMaxSays:
November27th,2013at7:56am
Ifyoudesiretoincreaseyourfamiliarityonlykeepvisitingthissiteandbeupdatedwiththe
mostrecentnewsupdatepostedhere.

23.
JoeTSays:
June14th,2014at9:38pm
ThankyouforthepostGareth.DespitehowsimpleitseemsIalwaysforgetandhavetolookit
up.Makesiteasytojusthavethispagebookmarked.

24.
sergioSays:
October13th,2014at8:11pm
HowcanIsolveaproblemtoaboveternaryalloys?

25.
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EGSays:
December1st,2014at3:51am
GREAT!!!!Reallyeasytounderstand!

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