Modern chemical nomenclature started with Berzeluis, one of the so-called fathers of

chemistry, back in the early 1800s. He said that chemicals should be named by what they are,
not by where they came from. (After all, you can find malic acid elsewhere, like in cherries.)
He created the system of 1-letter and 2-letter atomic symbols taught today in secondary
school, with the letters taken from the Latin words for the element (hence "Pb" for plumbum;
lead).

He proposed that compounds be described by chemical formulas based on their elemental

composition. His paper on the topic, published in 1813, is a short and enjoyable read. The
purpose of a molecular formula is

to facilitate the expression of chemical proportions, and to enable us to indicate, without long
periphrases, the relative number of volumes of the different constituents contained in each
compound body. By determining the weight of the elementary volumes, these figures will
enable us to express the numeric result of an analysis as simply, and in a manner as easily
remembered, as the algebraic formulas in mechanical philosophy.
A formula was not meant as a way to replace the old symbols developed by "fellow-laborers
in the antiphlogistic revolution" which were used to mark the sides of the jars in the lab. (Am
I also a laborer in the antiphlogistic revolution? It sounds exciting!)

Analytic chemistry gives "the relative number of volumes of the different constituents
contained in each compound body." That is, the number of each element in the molecule. Sort
this list of elements alphabetically and you've got a description of the molecule which is
invariant; it won't change no matter the source of the sample nor the person doing the
analysis.

Chemists like carbon so they actually use a slightly more complicated set of rules called the
Hill order.

An element, if present, is written as the atomic symbol followed by a subscript for the
number of times the an atom of that element occurs in the molecule. If the element
occurs only once, don't use the subscript.

If there is carbon in the molecule write:

o carbon counts first

o hydrogens second

o the remaining elements in alphabetical order.

If there is no carbon write all elements in alphabetical order (hydrogen chloride is

written ClH and not HCl because C comes before H)

Thus, ethanol and dimethyl ether are both written C2H6O.

Another name for a rule is a canon. The Hill order creates a canonical molecular formula for
a compound.
Tata nama kimia modern dimulai dengan Berzeluis, salah satu yang disebut ayah
dari kimia, kembali awal 1800-an. Dia mengatakan bahwa bahan kimia harus
diberi nama oleh apa yang mereka, bukan dengan dari mana mereka berasal.
(Setelah semua, Anda dapat menemukan asam malat tempat lain, seperti di
ceri.) Dia menciptakan sistem 1 huruf dan 2 huruf simbol atom diajarkan hari ini
di sekolah menengah, dengan huruf yang diambil dari kata-kata Latin untuk
elemen (maka " Pb "untuk plumbum; memimpin).

Ia mengusulkan bahwa senyawa digambarkan oleh formula kimia berdasarkan

komposisi unsur mereka. Makalahnya pada topik, yang diterbitkan pada tahun
1813, adalah membaca singkat dan menyenangkan. Tujuan dari rumus molekul.