CHEMICAL FORMULAS

By:
Dzurrotun Husna (11630039)
Wardah El Maila (11630040)
Hanif Hidayah(11630066)
Riski Maratus Sholikhah (11630060)

CHEMISTRY DEPARTEMENT
FACULTY OF SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
MAULANA MALIK IBRAHIM MALANG

October, 2012
 INTRODUCTION

By this point in your study of chemistry, you have seen many chemical
formulas. Have you wondered where they come from or how we know the relative
numbers of atoms of each element in a compound? This section describes some of
the ways chemists determine chemical formulas from experimental data. Before
beginning, we need to understand the distinction between two types of chemical
formulas, empirical formulas and molecular formulas.
A chemical formula is a single symbol or a group of symbols that
represents a substance. Empirical formula is a chemical formula that includes
positive integers that describe the simplest ratio of the atoms of each element in a
compound, molecular formula is the chemical formula that describes the actual
numbers of atoms of each element in a molecule of a compound. The symbols in a
formula identify the elements present in the substance. When the subscripts in a
chemical formula represent the simplest ratio of the kinds of atoms in the
compound, the formula is called an empirical formula. Most ionic compounds are
described with empirical formulas. For example, chromium(III) oxides formula,
Cr2O3, is an empirical formula. The compound contains two chromium atoms for
every three oxide atoms, and there is no lower ratio representing these relative
amounts. Molecular compounds are described with molecular formulas. A
molecular formula describes the actual numbers of atoms of each element in a
molecule. Some molecular formulas are also empirical formulas. For example,
water molecules are composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, so
waters molecular formula is H2O. Because this formula represents the simplest
ratio of hydrogen atoms to oxygen atoms in water, it is also an empirical formula.
Many compounds do not contain discrete molecules but instead are
composed of particles called ions. Ions are atoms or groups of atoms that are
electrically charged. They usually arise in the combination of a metal and a
nonmetal. Thus the composition of compounds such as NaCl, Al2(SO4)3, KOH,
and CuSO4 cannot by identified in terms of the number of atoms of each type in a
molecule, but only in terms of a formula unit, as such compounds do not contain
physically distinct and electrically neutral molecules. The formula units of such
compounds are empirical formulas because they give only the simplest whole-
number ratios of elements in the compound. The formula for copper sulfate,
CuSO4, indicates that there is exactly one atom of copper for each atom of sulfur
and each four atoms of oxygen present in a sample of the compound, but is an
empirical formula since copper sulfate does not contain distict mulecules
composed of a copper atom, s sulfur atom, and four oxygen atoms. The total
numbers of atoms of each element in any sample of copper sulfate will be
proportional to these numbers.

THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1. How about the history of chemical formulas?
2. What is the chemical formulas?
3. How the divide of chemical formulas?
4. What is the function of chemical formulas?

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

1. To know about the history of chemical formulas
2. To know the definition of chemical formulas
3. To know the divide of chemical formulas
4. To know the function of chemical formulas
 CHEMICAL FORMULAS

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing

information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound. The
chemical formula identifies each constituent element by its chemical symbol and
indicates the number of atoms of each element found in each discrete molecule of
that compound. If a molecule contains more than one atom of a particular
element, this quantity is indicated using a subscript after the chemical symbol
(although 18th-century books often used superscripts) and also can be combined
by more chemical elements. For example, methane, a small molecule consisting of
one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms, has the chemical formula CH4. The
sugar molecule glucose has six carbon atoms, twelve hydrogen atoms and six
oxygen atoms, so its chemical formula is C6H12O6.

Chemical formulas may be used in chemical equations to describe

chemical reactions. For ionic compounds and other non-molecular substances an
empirical formula may be used, in which the subscripts indicate the ratio of the
elements.

The 19th-century Swedish chemist Jns Jacob Berzelius worked out this
system for writing chemical formulas.

Determination of Chemical Formulas

How would you find the chemical formula of a substance? If you know the
substance, its formula and other information is usually listed in a handbook.
Handbooks such as the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics contain
information on millions of substances.

If you are a researcher and you made a new compound that no one has
ever made it before, then you need to determine its empirical or molecular
formula. For an organic compound, you burn it completely to convert all carbon
(C) to CO2, and all hydrogen (H) to H2O.
 CxH2y =(burned in O2)=> x CO2 + y H2O

Thus, from the weight of CO2 and H2O produced by burning a definite amount of
the substance, you can figure out the percent of C and H in the compound.
Nitrogen is determined by converting it to NH3. The amount of NH3 can be
determined by titration, and the percentage can also be determined. Percentage of
O is usually obtained by subtracting all percentages of C, H, and N, if the
compound does not contain any other element.

Chemical formula contain of empirical formula, molecular formula and stucture

formula:

1. Empirical formulas

In chemistry, the empirical formula of a chemical is a simple expression of

the relative number of each type of atom or ratio of the elements in the compound.
Empirical formulas are the standard for ionic compounds, such as CaCl2, and for
macromolecules, such as SiO2. An empirical formula makes no reference to
isomerism, structure, or absolute number of atoms. The term empirical refers to
the process of elemental analysis, a technique of analytical chemistry used to
determine the relative percent composition of a pure chemical substance by
element.

For example hexane has a molecular formula of C6H14, or structurally

CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH3, implying that it has a chain structure of 6 carbon
atoms, and 14 hydrogen atoms. However, the empirical formula for hexane is
C3H7. Likewise the empirical formula for hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, is simply HO
expressing the 1:1 ratio of component elements. Formaldehyde and acetic acid
have the same empirical formula, CH2O. This is the actual chemical formula for
formaldehyde, but acetic acid has double the number of atoms.
2. Molecular formulas

Molecular formulas are useful in that they are a very compact and simple
way of writing complex molecules. As mentioned earlier, each element has a one
or two letter symbol which is used to identify it. In a molecular formula, all of the
symbols for the elements that are contained in the molecule are written, and to the
right of each is a number which indicates how many atoms of that element are
used. For example, glucose has six carbon atoms, twelve hydrogen atoms, and six
oxygen atoms. The symbols for carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are C, H, and O
respectively, so the molecular formula for glucose is C6H12O6. As another
example, water has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, so its molecular
formula is H2O. Notice that there is no "1" next to the O in the molecular formula
for water. Scientists have decided that if there is just one atom of that element,
then the number "1" does not need to be written next to the element in the
molecular formula.

3. Structural formula

The structural formula of a chemical compound is a graphical

representation of the molecular structure, showing how the atoms are arranged.
The chemical bonding within the molecule is also shown, either explicitly or
implicitly. Also several other formats are used, as in chemical databases, such as
SMILES, InChI and CML.

Unlike chemical formulas or chemical names, structural formulas provide

a representation of the molecular structure. Chemists nearly always describe a
chemical reaction or synthesis using structural formulas rather than chemical
names, because the structural formulas allow the chemist to visualize the
molecules and the changes that occur.
Structural formula divided into 5 kinds:

a. Lewis formulas

Lewis formulas is the elektron bond is indicated by the points.

b. valence formula

valence formula is electrons that involved in the bond indicated by the

lines.

c. compressed structure formula or structural brief formula

compressed structure formula is CH3(CH2)2CH3

d. Line structural formula

Line structural formula is chain of chemical structures drawn with lines.

 e. three-dimensional structure

Some example for chemical formula :

trade names Chemical Name Chemical Formula

Acetone Acetone (CH3)2 CO
acetylene Acetylene C2H2
ammonia Ammonia NH3
ammonium ammonium hydroxide NH4OH
Aniline Aniline C6H5 NH2
Hydratedaluminium
Bauxite Al2O3 2H2O
oxides
bleaching powder calcium hypochlorite CaCl (OCl)
blue vitrol copper sulfate CuSO4 5H2O
Borax sodium tetraborate Na2B4O7 10H2O
butter of zinc zinc chloride ZnCl2 3H2O
cadmium sulfate cadmium sulfate CdSO4
calcium chloride calcium chloride CaCl2
Carbide calcium carbide CaC2
carbolic acid Phenol C6H5OH
carbon dioxide carbon dioxide CO2
carborundum silicon carbide SiC
caustic potash potassium hydroxide KOH
caustic soda sodium hydroxide NaOH
Chalk calcium carbonate CaCo3
Ether di-ethyl ether (C2H5)2O
glycerine or glycerol Glycerine C3H5 (OH)3
graphite crystaline carbon C
green vitrol ferrous sulfate FeSO4 7H2O
Gypsum calcium sulfate CaSO4 2H2O
heating gas Propane C3H8
hydrochloric acid hydrochloric acid HCl
hydrofluoric acid hydrofluoric acid HF
hydrogen sulfide hydrogen sulfide H2S
iron chloride ferrous chloride FeCl2 4H2O
iron sulfide ferrous sulfide FeS
laughing gas nitrous oxide N2O
lead sulfide lead sulfide PbS
limestone calcium carbonate CaCO3
magnesia magnesium oxide MgO
marsh gas Methane CH4
minumum Plumbate 2PbO PbO2
nitric acid nitric acid HNO3
phosphoric acid ortho phosphoric acid H3PO4
Potash potassium carbonate K2CO3
potassium bromide potassium bromide KBr
potassium chlorate potassium chlorate KClO3
potassium chloride potassium chloride KCl
potassium chromate potassium chromate K2CrO4
potassium cyanide potassium cyanide KCN
potassium dichromate potassium dichromate K2Cr2O7
potassium ionide potassium ionide KI
prussic acid hydrogen cyanide HCN
quicklime calcium monoxide CaO
red prussiate potassium ferrocyanide K3Fe(CN)6
salammoniac ammonium chloride NH4Cl
silver bromide silver bromide AgBr
silver nitrate silver nitrate AGNO3
slaked lime calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2
soda ash hydrated sodium carbonate Na2CO3 10H2O
sodium monoxide sodium oxide Na2O
Soot amorphous carbon C
sulphuric acid sulphuric acid H2SO4
table salt sodium chloride NaCl
tinstone, tin putty stannic oxide SnO2
Trilene Trichlorethylene C2HCl3
Urea Urea CO(NH2)2
white lead basic lead carbonate 2PbCO3 Pb(OH)2
white vitrol zinc sulphate ZnSO4 7H2O
yellow prussiate of
potassium ferrocyanide K4Fe(CN)6 3H2O
potassium
zinc blende zinc sulphide ZnS
zinc or chinese white zinc oxide ZnO
 In order to make it easier to describe elements and molecules, chemical
formulas are used. For example, H represents one atom of hydrogen and "O"
represents one atom of oxygen. If we want to represent two atoms of hydrogen,
instead of writing H H, we write H2. The subscript "2" means that two atoms of
the element hydrogen have joined together to form a molecule. A subscript is only
used when more than one atom is being represented. The graphic below illustrates
the formula for water using symbols.

The function of chemical formulas are used to describe the types of atoms
and their numbers in an element or compound.The atoms of each element are
represented by one or two different letters.When more than one atom of a specific
element is found in a molecule, a subscript is used to indicate this in the chemical
formula.
 CONCLUTION

A chemical formula is a single symbol or a group of symbols that

represents a substance. Chemical formula contain of empircal formula, molecular
formula and stuctural formula. Empirical formula is a chemical formula that
includes positive integers that describe the simplest ratio of the atoms of each
element in a compound, molecular formula is the chemical formula that describes
the actual numbers of atoms of each element in a molecule of a compound, the
structural formula of a chemical compound is a graphical representation of the
molecular structure, showing how the atoms are arranged. Chemical formulas may
be used in chemical equations to describe chemical reactions. The function of
chemical formulas are used to describe the types of atoms and their numbers in an
element or compound.
 REFERENCES

Anonymous.Chemical Formulas. Retrived electronically 13 October 2012 from

http://library.thinkquest.org/3659/intro/formulas.html
Anonymous.Chemical Formulas. Retrived electronically 13 October 2012 from
http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/c120/formula.html

Anonymous.Chemical and Chemical Formulas. Retrived electronically 13 October

2012 from http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/chemicals-formulas-trade-
names-d_1758.html