The molecular weight of Lithium Chloride (LiCl) is 42.3937.

To calculate molecular weight of any compound, the first step is to know the constituent elements (atoms) and their number in that particular compound. Then calculate the total atomic weight of each element by multiplying its atomic weight by its number. The sum of total atomic weight of all constituent elements will be the molecular weight of the compound. Note that the value of atomic weight may differ from different sources.

CALCULATION PROCEDURE

Step 1: Find out the chemical formula and determine constituent atoms and their number in a Lithium Chloride molecule.
From the chemical formula, you will know different atoms and their number in a Lithium chloride molecule. Chemical formula of Lithium chloride is LiCl. From the chemical formula of Lithium chloride, it is easy to find out that there are one Lithium (Li) atom and one Chlorine (Cl) atom in a molecule of Lithium chloride.

Step 2: Find out the atomic weights of each atom (from the periodic table).

Atomic weight of Lithium (Li): 6.941 (Ref: jlab-ele003)
Atomic weight of chlorine (Cl) : 35.4527 (Ref: Pubchem-Chlorine, Jlab-ele003)

Step 3: Calculate the molecular weight of Lithium chloride by adding the total weight of all atoms.

Number of Lithium atoms in Lithium chloride: 1
Atomic weight of Lithium: 6.941
Total weight of Lithium atoms in Lithium chloride: 6.941 x 1 = 6.941

Number of Chlorine atoms in Lithium chloride: 1
Atomic weight of Chlorine: 35.4527
Total weight of Chlorine atoms in Lithium chloride: 35.4527 x 1 = 35.4527

Step 4: Calculate the molecular weight of Lithium chloride by adding up the total weight of all atoms.

Molecular weight of Lithium chloride (LiCl):

6.941 (Lithium) + 35.4527 (Chlorine)

So the molecular weight of Lithium chloride is 42.3937.

REFERENCES:

• Jlab-ele003
• Pubchem-Lithium
• Jlab.org-ele017
• Pubchem-Chlorine
•  

See also:

• Hydrogen chloride molecular weight calculation