What is a mole? What is a mole? What an interesting question! There are several definitions of a mole. One is a small furry mammal who burrows beneath the earth. However, the mole we will be concentrating on is the chemists mole. The definition of a chemists mole is an amount of substance that contains 6.02 X 10^23 particles. The word mole comes from the Latin moles, meaning "mass" Why do chemists need the mole? The answer is quite simple. Have you ever refered to 12 eggs as a dozen? Have you wondered why you did? Most likely because it is more convenient unit for expressing a frequently used quantity. Unfortunately , one or two dozen atomic particles are too small to be seen even with the most powerful microscope. A much larger quantity is needed to express these small particles. This quantity is the mole. Chemists use the term mole to express a number of atoms, ions, molecules, or other particles. A mole is (Abreviated: mol) merely the amount of substance that contains 6.02 X 10^23. The particles may be anything- atoms, molecules, pizzas, T.V. Screens, or even hyperactive lemmings.