Chemical Formulae

A Chemical formula is a representation of a chemical substance using letters for atoms and subscript number to show the number of each type of atoms in the substance.
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) standardized the usage of

name, symbol, chemical formulae and mass of atom or molecule for chemical substances at international level.

Chemical Formula of an Element

The chemical formula of an element represents its atoms. For some elements which naturally exist as molecules, the

chemical formulae represent their molecules

Symbol of nitrogen atom

N2

Shows that there are 2 atom of nitrogen in a molecule of nitrogen gas, N2

Chemical Formulae of A Compound

symbol of carbon and oxygen atoms

CO2
No number means there is only 1 carbon atom in a molecule of carbon dioxide
Shows number of oxygen atoms

Chemical Formulae of A Compound

symbol of calcium, nitrogen and oxygen atoms

Ca(NO3)2
The brackets show that there are 2 group of nitrate ions

Empirical Formula
Empirical Formula of a compound is the simplest whole number ratio of atoms of each element in the compound.
Example : chemical formula of glucose molecule is C6H12O6 Ratio of Element Ratio of atoms Simplest ratio of atoms Empirical Formula of Glucose C : H : O 6 : 12 : 6 1 : 2 : 1 CH2O

Empirical Formula
Compound water methane Benzene Hydrogen peroxide Molecular Fomula H2O CH4 C6H6 H2O2 Empirical Formula H2O CH4 CH HO

Calculation Problem of EF
Example 1:
In an experiment, hydrogen gas react with 4.53g of hot metal X oxide. At the end of experiment, 3.57g of metal X is obtained. What is the empirical formula for the metal X oxide? [ Relative atomic mass : O, 16 ; X,119 ]

Solution of Example 1
Element Mass of element /g Number of Moles Simplest ratio of moles Empirical Formula X
3.57
3.57 0.03 119

O
4.53-3.57=0.96
0.96 0.06 16

0.03 1 0.03

0.06 2 0.03

XO2

Calculation Problem of EF
Example 2:
A compound consist 41.05% of potassium, K; 33.69% of sulphur, S and 25.26% of oxygen, O. Find the empirical formula for this compound. [ Relative atomic mass : K, 39 ; S, 32 ; O, 16 ]

Solution of Example 2
Element Mass of element in 100g/g Number of moles Simplest ratio of moles Ratio of moles in integer Empirical Formula

K
41.05
41.05 1.05 39
1.05 1 1.05

S
33.69
33.69 1.05 32
1.05 1 1.05

O
25.26
25.26 1.58 16

1.58 1.5 1.05

K2S2O3

Molecular Formula
Molecular Formula of a compound is the actual number of atoms of each element that are present in a molecule of the compound.
In a Molecular Formula, the subscript number are simple multiple of those in the empirical formula.

Molecular Formula = ( Empirical Formula )n

Comparison of EF and MF
Compound
Water methane Empirical Formula H2O CH4 Molecular Fomula (H2O)1= H2O (CH4)1=CH4

n
1 1

Benzene Hydrogen peroxide

CH HO

(CH)6= C6H6 (HO)2=H2O2

6 2

Calculation Problem of MF
Example 1: The empirical formula of a compound is C2H4O. It has a relative molecular mass of 88. What is the molecular formula for this compound?
[ Relative atomic mass: C,12 ; H, 1; O,16 ]

Solution
Assume that the molecular formula is (C2H4O)n
Relative molecular mass of compound=88 88= [2(12) +4(1) +16 ]n 88=44n n=2

Thus, Molecular Formula = ( C2H4O)2

= C4H8O2

Percentage composition by mass of an element in a compound

% composition by mass of an element in a compound =

mass of element in compound 100% mass of 1 mol compound

Problem of Percentage composition by mass of an element in a compound

Find the percentage composition by mass of nitrogen in urea, CO(NH2)2. [AR: C,12 ; O, 16; H, 1 ; N,14 ]
% composition by mass of Nitrogen in urea

Massof nitrogen atoms in 1 mol of urea 100% Massof 1 mol of urea 2(14) 100% 12 16 2[14 2(1)] 46.67%

Chemical Formulae of Ionic Compound

CaCO3
Symbol of calcium, Ca; carbon, C and oxygen, O atoms Number 3 shows the quantity of oxygen in the compound

Chemical Formulae for Ionic Compounds

Ionic compounds are made up of

positively- charged ions (cations) and negatively-charged ions (anions)

Ionic compounds are electrically neutral

even though they contain charged particles. This is because the total of positive charges are equal to the total of negative charges

List of some common cations

Formula of cation Name of cation Hydrogen Ion Lithium ion Formula of cation Name of cation Calcium ion magnesium ion

H+ Li+

Ca2+ Mg2+

Na+
K+

Sodium ion
Potassium ion

Ba2+
Zn2+

Barium ion
Zinc ion

Ag+
NH4+

Silver ion
Ammonium ion Cobalt (II) ion

Ni2+
Al3+

nickel(II) ion
Aluminium on Cromium(III) Ion

Co2+

Cr3+

List of some common cations

Formula of cation Name of cation Copper (I) ion Copper (II) ion Iron (II) ion Iron (III) ion Tin (II) ion Tin (IV) ion Lead (II) ion Formula of cation Name of cation Lead (IV) ion Mercury (I) ion Mercury (II) ion Manganese (II) ion

Cu+ Cu2+ Fe2+ Fe3+ Sn2+ Sn4+ Pb2+

Pb4+ Hg+ Hg2+ Mn2+

List of some common anions

Formula of anion F Cl Br I NO3 NO2

Name of anion Fluoride ion Chloride ion Bromide ion Iodide ion Nitrate ion Nitrite ion

Formula of anion OH ClO ClO3 HCOO CH3COO MnO4

Name of anion
Hydroxide ion Chlorate (I) ion Chlorate (V) ion Methanoate ion Ethanoate ion

Manganate(VII) ion

Hydride ion

List of some common anions

Formula of anion Name of anion Formula of anion Name of anion

BrO
BrO3 IO IO3 O2 S2

Bromate (I) ion

Bromate (V) ion Iodate (I) ion iodate(V) ion Oxide ion sulphide ion

SO4 2
S2O3 2 CO3 2 CrO4 2

Sulphate ion
Thiosulphate ion Carbonate ion Chromate (VI) ion

Cr2O7 2 Dichromate (VI) ion PO4 3 Phosphate ion

SO3 2

Sulphite ion

CF of simple Ionic Compound

Example 1:
What is the chemical formula of Silver iodide?
Ions
Charge of ion

Ag+
+1

I
1

Number of ions

Chemical Formula of Silver iodide = AgI

CF of simple Ionic Compound

Example 2:
What is the chemical formula of zinc oxide?
Ion Charge of ion Number of ion Simplest ratio of ions Zn2+ +2 2 1 O2 2 2 1

Chemical formula of zinc oxide = ZnO

CF of simple Ionic Compound

Example 3:
What is the chemical formula of Iron (III) chloride?

Ion
Charge of ion

Fe3+
+3

Cl
1

Number of ion

Chemical formula of Iron (III) chloride = FeCl3

Practice 1: Construct Chemical Formulae

Construct the chemical formula for these compounds: 1. Potassium chloride 2. Sodium bromide 3. Lithium iodide 4. Aluminium oxide 5. Copper (II) chloride 6. Calcium fluoride 7. Lead (II) bromide 8. Iron (II) sulphide 9. Barium chloride 10. Chromium (III) oxide

CF of complicated Ionic Compound

Complicated ions are ions that made up of

two or more elements such as NO3, CO32, SO4 2, OH etc.

Brackets are used to show the number of

these ions involved in formulae

If there is only 1 ion involved, brackets is

not necessary. Example CuCO3

CF of complicated Ionic Compound

Example 1:
What is the chemical formula of ammonium sulphate ?

Ion
Charge of ion

NH4+
+1

SO42
2

Number of ions

Chemical Formula of ammonium sulphate =(NH4)2SO4

CF of complicated Ionic Compound

Example 2:
What is the chemical formula of calcium carbonate? Ion Charge of ion Number of ions Simplest ratio of ions Ca2+ +2 2 1 CO32 2 2 1

Chemical formula of calcium carbonate =CaCO3

CF of complicated Ionic Compound

Example 3:
What is the chemical formula of iron (III) nitrate?

ion
Charge of ion

Fe3+
+3

NO3
1

Number of ions

Chemical formula of iron (III) nitrate =Fe(NO3)3

CF of complicated Ionic Compound

Example 4:
What is the chemical formula of zinc hydroxide?

Ion
Charge of ion

Zn2+
+2

OH
1

Number of ions

Chemical formula of zinc hydroxide = Zn(OH)2

Practice 2: Construct chemical formula of complicated ions

Construct chemical formula for these chemical compound:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Ammonium nitrate Copper (II) nitrate Calcium hydroxide Sodium thiosulphate Barium sulphate Magnesium carbonate Aluminium nitrate Potassium ethanoate Zinc sulphate Iron (II) sulphite

11. Iron (II) sulphate 12. Tin (II) nitrate 13. Lead (II) 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Chromate (VI) Barium dichromate (VI) Ammonium phosphate Chromium (III) hydroxide Nickel(II) carbonate Potassium chlorate(V) Sulphuric acid Nitric acid

Naming of Chemical Compounds

Chemical compound are named systematically according to the

guidelines given by IUPAC ( International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry)

Guideline to name a Chemical Compound

For ionic compound
name of cation comes first, followed by the name of anion
Cation Sodium ion Zinc ion Calcium ion Anion Chloride ion Oxide ion Carbonate ion

Name of ionic compound Sodium chloride

Zinc oxide Calcium carbonate

Guideline to name a Chemical Compound

For simple molecular compounds:
The name of first element is maintain but the name of second element is added with an -ide
Examples: HCl KBr NaO hydrogen chloride potassium bromide sodium oxide

Guideline to name a Chemical Compound

Greek prefixes are used to show the number of atoms of each element in a compound.

Example:

CO carbon monoxide CO2 carbon dioxide SO3 sulphur trioxide CCl4 - carbon tetrachloride PCl5 phosphorus pentachloride N2O4 Dinitrogen tetroxide Cl2O7 - dichlorine heptoxide

Meaning of Greek Prefixes

Prefix Mono DiTirTetraPentaMeaning 1 2 3 4 5 Prefix HexaHeptaOctaNonaDecaMeaning 6 7 8 9 10

Solution of Practice 1
1. KCl 2. NaBr

3. LiI
4. Al2O3 5. CuCl2

6. CaF2 7. PbBr2 8. FeS 9. BaCl2 10. Cr2O3

Solution of Practise 2:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

NH4NO3 Cu(NO3) 2 Ca(OH)2 Na2S2O3 BaSO4 MgCO3 Al(NO3)3 CH3COOK ZnSO4 FeSO3

11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

FeSO4 Sn(NO3)2 PbCrO4 BaCr2O7 (NH4)3PO4 Cr(OH)3 NiCO3 KClO3 H2SO4 HNO3