Chapter 3: Chemical formulas

and Composition
Stoichiometry
Understand early concepts of atoms
Use chemical formulas to solve
various kinds of chemical problems
Recognize and use formular mass
(weight)
Interconvert masses, moles and
formulas
Determine formulas from

New vocabulary

Stoichiometry: describes the

quantitative relationships among
elements in compounds (composition
stoichiometry)

Chemical formulas

The chemical formulas for a substance

shows its chemical composition
The formula for a single atom is the
same as the symbol for the element.
Chemical formula gives the number of
atoms of each type in the molecule
Structural formula shows the order in
which atoms are connected

Chemical & structural

formulas
H

H2O2

Ball and stick model

Names and chemical formulas of

some common molecular
compounds

H2O

SO2

H2O2

SO3

HCl * (gas)
H2SO4

CO
CO2

HNO3

CH4

CH3COOH

C2H6

NH3

C3H8

* Called hydrochloric acid if dissolved in water

Ions and ionic compounds

An ion is an atom or a group of

atoms that carries an electric
charge. Ions that posses a positive
charge are called cations. Those
carrying a negative charge are
called anions.
Ions are formed when neutral
atoms lose or gain electrons

Example about ionic

substance

For ionic substances, there are no

molecules
Instead, we refer to formula unit

Compound NaCl consists of collections of la

numbers of ions

The arrangement of ions in NaCl crystal

6

Formulas, ionic charges

and names of some
common ionsCommon anions
Common cations

Na+
K+
NH4+
Ag+
Mg2+
Ca2+
Zn2+
Cu+
Cu2+
Fe2+
Fe3+
Al3+

Sodium
Potassium
Silver
Calcium
Zinc
Copper(I)
Copper(II)
Iron(II)
Iron (III)
Aluminum

F- fluoride
Cl- chloride
Br- bromide
OHCH3COOacetate
NO3- nitrate
O2S2- sulfide
SO42- sulfate
SO32- sulfite
CO32- carbonate
PO43- phosphate

Those in red color are polyatomic ions (group of atoms that bear an electric

Names and formulas of

some ionic compounds

All group B metals with the

exception of silver (which is always
found as Ag+) and zinc (always Zn2+)
can take on a variety of charges
A Roman numeral placed within
parentheses after the name of the
cation gives the positive charge of
that cation.

Common Polyatomic Ions

Some examples of ionic

compounds

Table salt

Calcium fluoride

Example
Name the following ionic
compounds:
(NH4)2S; Cu(NO3)2; ZnCl2; Fe2(CO3)3

Write the formulas for the following

ionic compounds:
Sodium fluoride; calcium fluoride;
iron(II) sulfate; zinc phosphate

Prefixes for Binary

Molecular Compounds
Compounds made up of nonmetals held together by one or
more covalent bonds are molecular compounds

Example

Atomic mass (traditionally

called atomic weight-AW)

Atomic mass unit (amu) is defined

as exactly 1/12 of the mass of an
atom of a particular kind of carbon
atom, called carbon-12.
On this scale, the atomic weight of
H is about 1 amu (1.00794 amu),
of sodium (Na) is 22.989768 amu.

The mole (mol)

1 mole = 6.023 x 1023 particles

(atoms, molecules or other)
The mass of one mole of atoms of a
pure element in gram is numerically
equal to the atomic weight of that
element in atomic mass unit. This is
also called the molar mass of the
element; its unit are grams/mole
(g/mol)

Example

How many moles of atoms does

136.9 g of iron metal contain
(know that atomic weight of iron is
55.85 amu)
How many atoms are contained in
2.451 mol of iron (III) oxide

Formula weights,
molecular weights and
moles

The formula weight (FW) of a substance is

the sum of the atomic weights (AW) of
the elements in the formula. Therefore, a
formula weight gives the mass of one
formula unit in atomic mass unit (amu)
Molecular weight (MW) is used instead
formula weight when we refer specifically
to molecular (non-ionic) substances

Exercise

Calculate the formula weight of acetic

acid (vinegar), CH3COOH (Know that
atomic weight (AW) of C, H, O are 12,
1 and 2 amu, respectively.
How may (a) moles of O2, (b) O2
molecules, and (c) O atoms are
contained in 40.0 g of oxygen gas
(O2) (Know that AW of O is 16 amu)

Percent composition (by

mass) and formulas of
compounds
If the compounds formula is known, its

chemical composition can be expressed

as the mass percent of each element in
the compound (percent composition).
Percentage is the part divided by the
whole multiplies 100 percent (simply
parts per 100)
Calculate the percent composition by
mass of HNO3 (Know that AW of H, N
and O are 1, 14.0 and 16.0, respectively.

Simplest (emperical)
formulas
The simplest formula for a
compound is the smallest wholenumber ratio of atoms present.
Example: HO is the simplest formula
of H2O2

Example

Exercise

Analysis of a sample of a pure

compound reveals that it contains
50.1% sulfur and 49.9% oxygen by
mass. What is the simplest formula
of the compound? (Know that AW
of O and S are 16 and 32.1 amu,
respectively).

Moving from Empirical Formulas

to Molecular Formulas

W = mg
In which, W: weight of object
m: mass of object
g: acceleration of gravity
g on the earths surface=9.8
m/s2

Isotopes Hydrogen

Tritium (T)
Deuterium (D)

Exercise