Chapter 3

Molecules, Compounds, and

Chemical Equations

How Many Different Substances Exist?

Elements combine with each other to form

compounds.
The great diversity of substances that we
find in nature is a direct result of the ability
of elements to form compounds.

Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Water

The dramatic difference between the
elements hydrogen and oxygen and the
compound water is typical of the
differences between elements and the
compounds that they form.
When two or more elements combine to
form a compound, an entirely new
substance results.

Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Water

Definite Proportion
A hydrogenoxygen mixture can have any
proportions of hydrogen and oxygen gas.
Water, by contrast, is composed of water
molecules that always contain two
hydrogen atoms to every one oxygen atom.
Water has a definite proportion of hydrogen
to oxygen.

Definite Proportion

Chemical Bonds
Compounds are composed of atoms held
together by chemical bonds.
Chemical bonds result from the attractions
between the charged particles (the electrons
and protons) that compose atoms.
Chemical bonds are classified into two types:
Ionic
Covalent

Ionic Bonds
Ionic bondswhich occur between metals
and nonmetalsinvolve the transfer of
electrons from one atom to another.
When a metal interacts with a nonmetal, it
can transfer one or more of its electrons to
the nonmetal.
The metal atom then becomes a cation.
The nonmetal atom becomes an anion.

Ionic Bonds
These oppositely charged ions attract one
another by electrostatic forces and form an
ionic bond.
The result is an ionic compound, which in
the solid phase is composed of a lattice
a regular three-dimensional arrayof
alternating cations and anions.

Ionic Bonds

Covalent Bonds
Covalent bondswhich occur between
two or more nonmetalsinvolve the
sharing of electrons between two atoms.
When a nonmetal bonds with another nonmetal,
neither atom transfers its electron to the other.
Instead the bonding atoms share some of their
electrons.

The covalently bound atoms compose a

molecule.
Hence, we call covalently bonded compounds
molecular compounds.

Representing Compounds: Chemical

Formulas and Molecular Models
A compound is represented with its
chemical formula.
Chemical formula indicates the elements
present in the compound and the relative
number of atoms or ions of each.
Water is represented as H2O.
Carbon dioxide is represented as CO2.
Sodium Chloride is represented as NaCl.
Carbon tetrachloride is represented as CCl4.

Types of Chemical Formulas

Chemical formulas can generally be
categorized into three different types:
Empirical formula

Molecular formula
Structural formula

Types of Chemical Formulas

An empirical formula gives the relative
number of atoms of each element in a
compound.
A molecular formula gives the actual
number of atoms of each element in a
molecule of a compound.
(a)
(b)
(c)

For C4H8, the greatest common factor is 4.

The empirical formula is therefore CH2.
For B2H6, the greatest common factor is 2.
The empirical formula is therefore BH3.
For CCl4, the only common factor is 1, so the
empirical formula and the molecular formula
are identical.

Types of Chemical Formulas

A structural formula uses lines to
represent covalent bonds and shows how
atoms in a molecule are connected or
bonded to each other. The structural
formula for H2O2 is shown below:

Types of Chemical Formulas

The type of formula we use depends on
how much we know about the compound
and how much we want to communicate.
A structural formula communicates the
most information,
while an empirical formula communicates
the least.

Molecular Models
A molecular model is a more
accurate and complete way to
specify a compound.
A ball-and-stick molecular
model represents atoms as
balls and chemical bonds as
sticks; how the two connect
reflects a molecules shape.
The balls are typically colorcoded to specific elements.

Molecular Models
In a space-filling molecular model, atoms
fill the space between each other to more
closely represent our best estimates for
how a molecule might appear if scaled to
visible size.

Ways of Representing a Compound

An Atomic-Level View of Elements and

Compounds
Elements may be either atomic or molecular.
Compounds may be either molecular or ionic.

View of Elements and Compounds

Atomic elements exist in nature with single
atoms as their basic units. Most elements
fall into this category.
Examples are Na, Ne, C, K, Mg, etc.

Molecular elements do not normally exist

in nature with single atoms as their basic
units; instead, they exist as moleculestwo
or more atoms of the element bonded
together.
There only seven diatomic elements and they are H2,
N2, O2, F2, Cl2, Br2, and I2.
Also, P4 and S8 are polyatomic elements.

Molecular Elements

Molecular Compounds
Molecular compounds are usually
composed of two or more covalently
bonded nonmetals.
The basic units of molecular compounds
are molecules composed of the
constituent atoms.
Water is composed of H2O molecules.
Dry ice is composed of CO2 molecules.
Propane (often used as a fuel for grills) is
composed of C3H8 molecules.

Ionic Compounds
Ionic compounds are composed of cations
(usually a metal) and anions (usually one
or more nonmetals) bound together by
ionic bonds.
The basic unit of an ionic compound is the
formula unit, the smallest, electrically neutral
collection of ions.
The ionic compound table salt, with the
formula unit NaCl, is composed of Na+ and
Cl ions in a one-to-one ratio.

Molecular and Ionic Compounds

Polyatomic Ion
Many common ionic compounds contain
ions that are themselves composed of a
group of covalently bonded atoms with an
overall charge.
This group of charged species is called
polyatomic ions.
NaNO3 contains Na+ and NO3.
CaCO3 contains Ca2+ and CO32.
KClO Contains K+ and ClO.

Ionic Compounds: Formulas and Names

Summarizing Ionic Compound Formulas:
Ionic compounds always contain positive and
negative ions.
In a chemical formula, the sum of the charges
of the positive ions (cations) must equal the
sum of the charges of the negative ions
(anions).
The formula of an ionic compound reflects the
smallest whole-number ratio of ions.

Ionic Compounds: Formulas and Names

The charges of the representative elements
can be predicted from their group numbers.
The representative elements forms only one
type of charge.

Transition metals tend to form multiple

types of charges.
Hence, their charge cannot be predicted as
in the case of most representative
elements.

Naming Ionic Compounds

Ionic compounds are usually composed of
metals and nonmetals.

Anytime you see a metal and one or more

nonmetals together in a chemical formula,
assume that you have an ionic compound.
NaBr, Al2(CO3)3, CaHPO4, and MgSO4 are
some examples of ionic compounds.

Naming Ionic Compounds

Ionic compounds can
be categorized into
two types, depending
on the metal in the
compound.

The first type contains Whenever the metal

in this first type of
a metal whose charge
compound forms an
is invariant from one
ion, the ion always
compound to another.
has the same charge.

Naming Type I Ionic Compounds

Naming Type II Ionic Compounds

The second type of ionic compound
contains a metal with a charge that can
differ in different compounds.
The metals in this second type of ionic
compound can form more than one kind of
cation (depending on the compound).
Its charge must therefore be specified for
a given compound.

Type II Ionic Compounds

Iron, for instance, forms a 2+ cation in
some of its compounds and a 3+ cation in
others.
Metals of this type are often transition
metals.
FeSO4 Here iron is +2 cation (Fe2+).
Fe2(SO4)3 Here iron is +3 cation (Fe3+).
Cu2O Here copper is +1 cation (Cu+).
CuO Here copper is +2 cation (Cu2+).
Some main group metals, such as Pb, Tl, and
Sn, form more than one type of cation.

Type II Ionic Compounds

Naming Binary Ionic Compounds of Type I

Cations
Binary compounds contain only two
different elements. The names of binary
ionic compounds take the following form:

Naming Type I Binary Ionic Compounds

For example, the name for KCl consists of
the name of the cation, potassium, followed
by the base name of the anion, chlor, with
the ending -ide.
KCl is potassium chloride.

The name for CaO consists of the name of

the cation, calcium, followed by the base
name of the anion, ox, with the ending -ide.
CaO is calcium oxide.

Base Names of Monoatomic Anions

The base names of some nonmetals, and
their most common charges in ionic
compounds, are shown in Table 3.3.

Naming Type II Binary Ionic Compounds

For these types of metals, the name of the
cation is followed by a roman numeral (in
parentheses) that indicates the charge of
the metal in that particular compound.
For example, we distinguish between Fe2+
and Fe3+ as follows:

Fe2+
Fe3+

Iron(II)
Iron(III)

Naming Type II Binary Ionic Compounds

The full names for compounds containing
metals that form more than one kind of
cation have the following form:

The charge of the metal cation can be determined by

inference from the sum of the charges of the nonmetal.

Naming Type II Binary Ionic Compounds

For example, to name CrBr3 determine the
charge on the chromium.
Total charge on cation + total anion charge = 0.
Cr charge + 3(Br charge) = 0.
Since each Br has a 1 charge, then
Cr charge + 3(1) = 0
Cr charge 3 = 0
Cr = +3

Hence, the cation Cr3+ is called chromium(III),

while Br is called bromide.

Therefore, CrBr3 is chromium(III) bromide.

Type II Cation

Naming Ionic Compounds Containing

Polyatomic Ions
We name ionic compounds that contain a
polyatomic ion in the same way as other
ionic compounds, except that we use the
name of the polyatomic ion whenever it
occurs.
For example, NaNO2 is named according to
its cation, Na+, sodium, and
its polyatomic anion, NO2, nitrite.

Hence, NaNO2 is sodium nitrite.

Common Polyatomic Ions

Oxyanions
Most polyatomic ions are oxyanions, anions
containing oxygen and another element.
Notice that when a series of oxyanions
contains different numbers of oxygen atoms,
they are named according to the number of
oxygen atoms in the ion.
If there are two ions in the series,
the one with more oxygen atoms has the ending -ate, and
the one with fewer has the ending -ite.

For example,
NO3 is nitrate
NO2 is nitrite

SO42 is sulfate
SO32 is sulfite

Oxyanions
If there are more than two ions in the
series then the prefixes hypo-, meaning
less than, and per-, meaning more than,
are used.
ClO
ClO2
ClO3
ClO4

hypochlorite
chlorite
chlorate
perchlorate

BrO
BrO2
BrO3
BrO4

hypobromite
bromite
bromate
perbromate

Hydrated Ionic Compounds

Hydrates are ionic compounds containing
a specific number of water molecules
associated with each formula unit.
For example, the formula for epsom salts is
MgSO4 7H2O.
Its systematic name is magnesium sulfate
heptahydrate.

CoCl2 6H2O is cobalt(II)chloride hexahydrate.

Hydrates
Common hydrate
prefixes
hemi =
mono = 1
di = 2
tri = 3
tetra = 4
penta = 5
hexa = 6
hepta = 7
octa = 8

Other common hydrated

ionic compounds and their
names are as follows:
CaSO4 1/2H2O is called
calcium sulfate hemihydrate.
BaCl2 6H2O is called barium
chloride hexahydrate.
CuSO4 6H2O is called copper
sulfate hexahydrate.

Molecular Compounds: Formulas and

Names
The formula for a molecular compound
cannot readily be determined from its
constituent elements because the same
combination of elements may form many
different molecular compounds, each with
a different formula.
Nitrogen and oxygen form all of the following
unique molecular compounds:
NO, NO2, N2O, N2O3, N2O4, and N2O5.

Molecular Compounds
Molecular compounds are composed of
two or more nonmetals.

Generally, write the name of the element

with the smallest group number first.
If the two elements lie in the same group,
then write the element with the greatest
row number first.
The prefixes given to each element indicate
the number of atoms present.

Binary Molecular Compounds

These prefixes are the same as those

used in naming hydrates:
mono = 1
di = 2
tri = 3
tetra = 4
penta = 5

hexa = 6
hepta = 7
octa = 8
nona = 9
deca = 10

If there is only one atom of the first element in the

formula, the prefix mono- is normally omitted.

Acids
Acids are molecular compounds that
release hydrogen ions (H+) when dissolved
in water.
Acids are composed of hydrogen, usually
written first in their formula, and one or
more nonmetals, written second.
HCl is a molecular compound that, when
dissolved in water, forms H+(aq) and Cl(aq) ions,
where aqueous (aq) means dissolved in water.

Acids
Acids are molecular compounds that form
H+ when dissolved in water.
To indicate the compound is dissolved in water
(aq) is written after the formula.
A compound is not considered an acid if it does
not dissolve in water.

Sour taste
Dissolve many metals
such as Zn, Fe, Mg; but not Au, Ag, Pt

Formula generally starts with H

e.g., HCl, H2SO4

Acids

Binary acids have H+1

cation and nonmetal

anion.
Oxyacids have H+
cation and polyatomic
anion.

Naming Binary Acids

Write a hydro- prefix.

Follow with the nonmetal name.
Change ending on nonmetal name to ic.
Write the word acid at the end of the name.

Naming Oxyacids
If polyatomic ion name ends in ate, then
change ending to ic suffix.
If polyatomic ion name ends in ite, then
change ending to ous suffix.
Write word acid at the end of all names.
oxyanions ending with -ate

oxyanions ending with -ite

Name the Following

1. H2S

2. HClO3

3. HC2H3O2

Name the Following

1. H2S

hydrosulfuric acid

2. HClO3

chloric acid

3. HC2H3O2

acetic acid

Writing Formulas for Acids

When name ends in acid, formulas starts
with H.
Write formulas as if ionic, even though it is
molecular.
Hydro- prefix means it is binary acid; no
prefix means it is an oxyacid.
For oxyacid
if ending is ic, polyatomic ion ends in ate.
if ending is ous, polyatomic ion ends in ous.

Acid Rain
Certain pollutantssuch as NO, NO2, SO2, SO3form
acids when mixed with water, resulting in acidic
rainwater.
Acid rain can fall or flow into lakes and streams, making
these bodies of water more acidic.

Inorganic Nomenclature Flow Chart

Formula Mass

The mass of an individual molecule or formula

unit
also known as molecular mass or molecular weight

Sum of the masses of the atoms in a single

molecule or formula unit
whole = sum of the parts!

Mass of 1 molecule of H2O

= 2(1.01 amu H) + 16.00 amu O = 18.02 amu

Molar Mass of Compounds

The molar mass of a compoundthe

mass in grams of 1 mol of its molecules
or formula unitsis numerically
equivalent to its formula mass.

Molar Mass of Compounds

The relative masses of molecules can be

calculated from atomic masses:
formula mass = 1 molecule of H2O = 2(1.01
amu H) + 16.00 amu O = 18.02 amu
1 mole of H2O contains 2 moles of H and 1
mole of O:
molar mass = 1 mole H2O
= 2(1.01 g H) + 16.00 g O = 18.02 g
so the molar mass of H2O is 18.02 g/mole
Molar mass = formula mass (in g/mole)

Using Molar Mass to Count Molecules by

Weighing
Molar mass in combination with Avogadros
number can be used to determine the
number of atoms in a given mass of the
element.
Use molar mass to convert to the amount in
moles. Then use Avogadros number to
convert to number of molecules.

Composition of Compounds

A chemical formula, in combination

with the molar masses of its
constituent elements, indicates the
relative quantities of each element in a
compound, which is extremely useful
information.

Composition of Compounds

Percentage of each element in a compound

by mass

Can be determined from

1. the formula of the compound and
2. the experimental mass analysis of the compound.
The percentages may not always total to 100%
due to rounding.

Conversion Factors from Chemical Formula

Chemical formulas contain within them
inherent relationships between numbers
of atoms and molecules.
Or moles of atoms and molecules

1 mol CCl2 F2 : 2 mol Cl

These relationships can be used to

determine the amounts of constituent
elements and molecules.
Like percent composition

Determining a Chemical Formula from

Experimental Data
Empirical Formula
Simplest, whole-number ratio of the atoms of
elements in a compound
Can be determined from elemental analysis
Masses of elements formed when a compound is
decomposed, or that react together to form a
compound
Combustion analysis

Percent composition
Note: An empirical formula represents a ratio of atoms
or a ratio of moles of atoms, not a ratio of masses.

Finding an Empirical Formula

1. Convert the percentages to grams.
a) Assume you start with 100 g of the
compound.
b) Skip if already grams.

2. Convert grams to moles.

a) Use molar mass of each element.

3. Write a pseudoformula using moles as

subscripts.

Finding an Empirical Formula

4. Divide all by smallest number of moles.
a) If the result is within 0.1 of a whole number,
round to the whole number.

5. Multiply all mole ratios by a number to

make all whole numbers.
a)
b)
c)
d)

If ratio .5, multiply all by 2.

if ratio .33 or .67, multiply all by 3.
If ratio 0.25 or 0.75, multiply all by 4, etc.
Skip if already whole numbers.

Molecular Formulas for Compounds

The molecular formula is a multiple of the

empirical formula.
To determine the molecular formula you
need to know the empirical formula and
the molar mass of the compound.
Molecular formula = (empirical formula)n,
where n is a positive integer.

Molecular Formulas for Compounds

The molar mass is a whole-number multiple
of the empirical formula molar mass, the
sum of the masses of all the atoms in the
empirical formula:
n=

molar mass
empirical formula molar mass

Combustion Analysis
A common technique for analyzing compounds is to
burn a known mass of compound and weigh the
amounts of product made.
This is generally used for organic compounds containing
C, H, O.

By knowing the mass of the product and

composition of constituent element in the product,
the original amount of constituent element can be
determined.
All the original C forms CO2, the original H forms H2O, and
the original mass of O is found by subtraction.

Once the masses of all the constituent elements in

the original compound have been determined, the
empirical formula can be found.

Combustion Analysis

Chemical Reactions
Reactions involve chemical changes in
matter resulting in new substances.
Reactions involve rearrangement and
exchange of atoms to produce new
molecules.
Elements are not transmuted during a reaction.

Reactants

Products

Chemical Equations
Shorthand way of describing a reaction
Provide information about the reaction
Formulas of reactants and products
States of reactants and products
Relative numbers of reactant and product
molecules that are required
Can be used to determine weights of reactants
used and products that can be made

Combustion of Methane
Methane gas burns to produce carbon dioxide
gas and gaseous water.
Whenever something burns it combines with O2(g).

CH4(g) + O2(g) CO2(g) + H2O(g)

If you look closely, you should immediately

spot a problem.

Combustion of Methane
Notice also that the left side has four
hydrogen atoms while the right side has
only two.

To correct these problems, we must

balance the equation by changing the
coefficients, not the subscripts.

Combustion of Methane, Balanced

To show the reaction obeys the Law of
Conservation of Mass the equation must
be balanced.
We adjust the numbers of molecules so there
are equal numbers of atoms of each element
on both sides of the arrow.

1C + 4H + 4O

1C + 4H + 4O

Organic Compounds
Early chemists divided compounds into two
types: organic and inorganic.
Compounds from living things were called
organic; compounds from the nonliving
environment were called inorganic.
Organic compounds are easily decomposed
and could not be made in the lab.
Inorganic compounds are very difficult to
decompose, but are able to be synthesized.

Modern Organic Compounds

Today organic compounds are commonly
made in the lab and we find them all
around us.
Organic compounds are mainly made of C
and H, sometimes with O, N, P, S, and
trace amounts of other elements
The main element that is the focus of
organic chemistry is carbon.

Carbon Bonding
Carbon atoms bond almost exclusively
covalently.
Compounds with ionic bonding C are generally
inorganic.

When C bonds, it forms four covalent bonds:

4 single bonds, 2 double bonds, 1 triple + 1
single, etc.

Carbon is unique in that it can form limitless

chains of C atoms, both straight and
branched, and rings of C atoms.

Carbon Bonding

Hydrocarbons
Organic compounds can be categorizing
into types: hydrocarbons and functionalized
hydrocarbons.

Hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons are
organic compounds
that contain only
carbon and hydrogen.
Hydrocarbons
compose common
fuels such as

oil,
gasoline,
liquid propane gas,
and natural gas.

Naming of Hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons containing The base names for a
only single bonds are
number of
called alkanes,
hydrocarbons are
listed here:
while those containing
1 meth 2 eth
double or triple bonds are
3 prop 4 but
alkenes and alkynes,
5 pent 6 hex
respectively.
7 hept 8 oct
Hydrocarbons consist of a
9 non 10 dec
base name and a suffix.
alkane (-ane)
alkene (-ene)
alkyne (-yne)

Base name
determined by
number of C atoms

Suffix
determined by
presence of
multiple bonds

Common Hydrocarbons

Functionalized Hydrocarbons
The term functional group derives from
the functionality or chemical character that
a specific atom or group of atoms imparts
to an organic compound.
Even a carboncarbon double or triple bond
can justifiably be called a functional group.

A group of organic compounds with the

same functional group forms a family.

Functionalized Hydrocarbons

Families in Organic Compounds