Chemical Formulae and Equations Chemistry - 5070

Chemical Formulae and

Equations
In this topic, you will learn:
 Chemical Symbols
 Chemical Formulae
 Valency
 Relative Molecular Mass (Mr)
 The Percentage composition of Elements in a Molecule
 Empirical Formula
 Chemical Equations
 Ionic Equations

Muhammad Hassan Nadeem

Chemical Reaction
 Chemical reaction is when two or more elements, compounds or molecules react together to
form something new.
 Reactants are what start a chemical reaction.
 Products are what are formed at the end of chemical reaction.

Types of reaction
 In decomposition reaction a compound breaks down to form two or more substances.
 In synthesis reaction a substance is formed by the combination of two or more substances.
 In neutralization reaction acid reacts with a base to form salt and water.
 In displacement reaction ion of less reactive element is displaced by the ion of more reactive
element (of same type).
 Precipitation reaction involves the formation of insoluble product.
 Combustion reaction of a substance involves its reaction with oxygen.
 Redox reaction involves oxidation and reduction of substances (discussed latter).

Chemical Symbols
 Each element is represented by its own symbol.
 Symbol may me of one or two letters.
 The first letter is capital is second letter is a small letter.

Name of some elements Symbol Name of some elements Symbol

Aluminum Al Copper Cu
Barium Ba Mercury Hg
Boron B Silver Ag
Lead Pb Gold Au
Zinc Zn Helium He
Oxygen O Neon Ne
Hydrogen H Potassium K
Nitrogen N Tin Sn
Iodine I Sodium Na
Iron Fe Chlorine Cl

Chemical Formulae
  Chemical formula is the way of expressing ratio of combining numbers of atoms or ions.
 Valency is the combining power of an atom or ion.
 The valency of first element becomes the base of second element and the valency of second
element becomes the base of first element.

X +x Y −y → X y Yx
 The bases are then further simplified if required.

X +2 Y −2 → X 2 Y2 → XY
Some common ions
Valency Positively charger ions Negatively charged ions
1 Sodium 𝑁𝑎+ Chloride 𝐶𝑙 −
Potassium 𝐾+ Bromide 𝐵𝑟 −
+
Silver 𝐴𝑔 Iodide 𝐼−
+
Copper(I) 𝐶𝑢 Hydroxide 𝑂𝐻−
Hydrogen 𝐻 +
Nitrate 𝑁𝑂3 −
Ammonium 𝑁𝐻4 + Hydrogen carbonate 𝐻𝐶𝑂3 −
Hydrogen sulphate 𝐻𝑆𝑂4 −
2 Lead(II) 𝑃𝑏 2+ Sulphate 𝑆𝑂4 2−
Copper(II) 𝐶𝑢 2+ Sulphtite 𝑆𝑂3 2−
2+
Magnesium 𝑀𝑔 Carbonate 𝐶𝑂3 2−
2+
Calcium 𝐶𝑎 Oxide 𝑂2−
2+
Zinc 𝑍𝑛 Sulphide 𝑆 2−
2+
Barium Ba
Iron(II) 𝐹𝑒 2+
Mercury (II) 𝐻𝑔2+
3 Iron(III) 𝐹𝑒 3+ Phosphate 𝑃𝑂4 3−
Aluminum 𝐴𝑙3+

Relative Molecular Mass

 Relative molecular mass (Mr) of a substance is the sum of relative atomic mass (Ar) of every
element in that substance.

Example: Relative Molecular Mass of Sulphuric Acid (𝑯𝟐 𝑺𝑶𝟒 )

Relative molecular mass of 𝐻2 𝑆𝑂4 = (2 x 1) + 32 + (4 x 16)
The Percentage Composition of Elements
in a Compound.
1. Write down the chemical formula of the substance.
2. Find out its relative molecular mass.
3. Divide the atomic mass of the element you want to calculate the percentage composition of,
with the relative molecular mass, and multiply the result with 100%.

Example: Percentage Composition of Sulphuric Acid (𝑯𝟐 𝑺𝑶𝟒 )

Relative molecular mass of 𝐻2 𝑆𝑂4 = (2 x 1) + 32 + (4 x 16)
=98
Ar of Hydrogen = 2 2
% of Hydrogen = × 100 = 2.04%
98
Ar of Sulphur = 32 32
% of Sulphur = × 100 = 32.64%
98
Ar of Oxygen = 64 64
% of Oxygen = × 100 = 65.31%
98

Mass of an Element in a Compound

 If we know the percentage of an element in a compound, then mass of that compound can also
be found by following equation:
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 = % 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 × 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒
𝐴𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎
= × 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒
𝑀𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑

Example
Calculate the mass of sodium in 10 g of sodium carbonate crystals(𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂3 . 10𝐻2 𝑂).

Ar of atoms of sodium in 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂3 . 10𝐻2 𝑂 = 2 x 32 = 46

Mr of the compound 𝑁𝑎2 𝐶𝑂3 . 10𝐻2 𝑂 = 286

46
Mass of sodium in 10 g of sodium carbonate crystals = × 10 = 1.61𝑔
286

Empirical Formula
  The empirical formula of a compound is the simplest formula which shows the relative numbers
of the atoms of the different elements present.
 Empirical formula can be determined once the percentage or mass of each element in a
compound is known.
 To the rules for finding empirical formula are:
1. Divide the percentage or mass of each element by its relative atomic mass.
2. Divide by the smallest number to convert to the simplest ratio.
3. The number of atoms of the different elements is the empirical formula.

Example
Given that a molecule contains 88.89% oxygen and 11.11% hydrogen , what is its empirical formula?
H O
1 Dividing % by Ar 11.11 88.89
= 11.11 = 5.55
1 16
2 Simplest ratio 11.11 5.55
=2 =1
5.55 5.55
3 Empirical formula 𝐻2 𝑂

Chemical equation
 A chemical equation is a useful way to summarizes what has happened in a chemical reaction.
 Reactants are written on the left side of equation while products are written after the reactants
preceded by an arrow with its head facing right.

1. Write down equation in words reactants on the left side, an arrow pointing towards right side
followed by the products.
𝐻𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛 + 𝑂𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛 → 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
2. Then write down the correct chemical formula.
𝐻2 + 𝑂2 → 𝐻2 𝑂
3. Balance the equation number of moles before chemical formulas of both products and reactants
where necessary. This involves making sure that the number of atoms of each element before
and after the reaction is the same.
2𝐻2 + 𝑂2 → 2𝐻2 𝑂
4. Finally add the state symbols in the equation for every reactant and product, after its chemical
formula. Solid is (s), liquid (l), gas is (g) and aqueous is (aq). Aqueous means dissolved in water.
2𝐻2 (𝑔) + 𝑂2 (𝑔) → 2𝐻2 𝑂(𝑙)

Ionic Equation
  If the reaction is involving reactants in aqueous state then ionic equation is written to show
which particles are actually taking part in chemical reaction.
 The ions which do not take part in chemical reaction are called spectator ions.
1. Write the real chemical equation first.
𝐻𝐶𝑙 𝑎𝑞 + 𝑁𝑎𝑂𝐻 𝑎𝑞 → 𝑁𝑎𝐶𝑙 𝑎𝑞 + 𝐻2 𝑂(𝑙)
2. The chemicals which are in aqueous state before and after the reaction are split into their
respective ions.
[𝐻 + 𝐶𝑙 − 𝑎𝑞 ] + [𝑁𝑎+ 𝑂𝐻− 𝑎𝑞 ] → [𝑁𝑎+ 𝐶𝑙 − 𝑎𝑞 ] + 𝐻2 𝑂(𝑙)
3. The ions which do not take part in chemical reaction (i.e. The ions which are same before and
after chemical reaction) are cut.
[𝐻 + 𝐶𝑙 − 𝑎𝑞 ] + [𝑁𝑎+ 𝑂𝐻− 𝑎𝑞 ] → [𝑁𝑎+ 𝐶𝑙 − 𝑎𝑞 ] + 𝐻2 𝑂(𝑙)
4. This leaves us with the essential ionic equation.
𝐻 + 𝑎𝑞 + 𝑂𝐻− 𝑎𝑞 → 𝐻2 𝑂(𝑙)

Naming chemical Compounds

 If there is a metal it is named first.
 Compound containing two element have their name ending with ...ide; for example sodium
chloride (NaCl) and calcium bromide (CaBr2).
 Compound containing oxygen end their names with ...ate; for example calcium carbonate
(CaCO3) and potassium nitrate (KNO3).
 In the names of some compounds prefixes are used to describe the number of particular atom
in the compound; for example carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur trioxide
(SO3) and dinitrogen tetraoxide (N2O4).

Credits: Muhammad Hassan Nadeem

d.cool.guy@hotmail.com