This is what I know (or think I know) about moles.
A mole is an exact number of atoms, Avagadro's number to be precise. 6.022*10^23 atoms make up one mole of an element, while 6.022*10^23 molecules make up one mole of a compound.
If you have the mass (grams) of a substance, you can determine the number of moles you have using the formula n=m/M where n=no. of moles, m=mass, M= molecular mass (in atomic mass units, i.e. off the periodic table.)
If you want exactly one mole of an element, just look at its molecular mass, and use that in grams. For example, I want 1 mole of carbon. On the periodic table it says it is 12 a.m.u. So I weigh 12 grams, and I have one mole. You can see that it works using the equation.
So then if you have a particular number of moles and want to know how many atoms, simply divide by Avagadro's number (6.022*10^23) and that's that.
The number of moles reacting in an experiment can be seen from the balanced chemical equation. eg.
2Na + Cl2 -> 2NaCl
2mol + 1mol -> 2mol
Hope that was useful...