CHEMICAL FORMULAS AND CHEMICAL

COMPOUNDS
HISTORY OF CHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE
A. ANTOINE LAVOISIER (1789) [33 Elements known]
1. Modernized system of naming compounds by publishing
chemistry book containing new nomenclature
2. Introduced basic ideas
a. all elements have single word names
b. all compounds have names made up of their
elements
c. a system of prefixes and suffixes should be used
3. EXAMPLE:
COMMON NAME SYSTEMATIC NAME
fixed air carbon dioxide
cinnabar mercuric sulfide

B. JOHN DALTON (1804) [36 Elements known]

1. Devised a symbol for each known element to help in
writing chemical equations

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 C. JONS JAKOB BERZELIUS (1814) [47 Elements]
1. Dalton’s symbols became awkward as more elements
were discovered
2. Devised system using symbols whereby upper case first
letter of name of element is used, or if necessary lower
case second letter
3. Use of Latin names as basis
Cu (cuprum) – copper K (kalium) – potassium
Fe (ferrum) – iron Pb (plumbum) – lead
Sb (stibnum – antimony Sn (stannum) – tin
4. Introduced the use of subscripts

D. CLASSICAL SYSTEM OF NOMENCLATURE

1. Involved use of suffixes –ic (higher charge) and –ous
(lower charge) for multiple charges
Fe2O3 Ferric oxide – Fe3+
FeO Ferrous oxide – Fe2+

E. ALFRED STOCK (1920)

1. Stock System of Nomenclature
2. Use of Roman numerals to indicate charges
Fe2O3 Iron (III) oxide – Fe3+
FeO Iron (II) oxide – Fe2+

I. CHEMICAL NAMES & FORMULAS

A. Chemical Formula – indicates the relative number of
atoms of each kind in a compound
1.Subscript – indicate the number of atoms present in
the formula
B. Nomenclature – naming system
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 1. Classical system – use of prefixes, suffixes, subscripts
2. Stock system – use of Roman numerals to indicate
charge or oxidation number of atoms or ions
C. Monatomic Ions – ions formed from single atom
1. Monatomic Cations – positive charge
a. Fixed Charge/Oxidation # (1A, 2A, 3A, Zn, Cd, Ag)
– numerically equal to group number
b. Variable charge/oxidation # - Pb, Sn and transition
metals (except Zn, Cd, Ag),
 Sn and Pb form 2+ or 4+ ions
 Group 3 forms 3+ ions
 D-block commonly forms 2+ ions (Fe and Cr also form 3+
ions)
 Cu forms 1+ and 2+ ions
 Ag forms 1+ ion
2. Monatomic Anions – negative charge
a. Ionic charge of 5A, 6A, 7A nonmetals – subtract
group number from 8 (remember octet!)
b. Ionic charge of 4A Nonmetals C, Si = 4– (sometimes)
D. 1. Binary Ionic compounds – compounds composed
of two different elements; names end in -ide
2. Ternary compounds – composed of three different
elements; always contain polyatomic ions.
3. Oxyanions – polyatomic ions that contain oxygen
a. ends in –ate and –ite
b. prefix hypo – if it contains one O less than –ite
c. prefix per – if it contains one O more than –ate

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III. USING CHEMICAL FORMULAS
A. The MOLE
1. Mole was introduced by Wilhelm Ostwald in 1896
2. Mole comes from the Latin word “heap” or “pile”
3. 1 mole = 6.022 x 1023 particles (Avogadro’s number)
B.Molecular Mass/Weight – sum of all the atomic
weights of the atoms in a molecule
C. Formula Mass/Weight – sum of the average atomic
masses of all the atoms represented in the formula of
any molecule, formula unit or ion
1. Same as molecular weight/mass; just a language
problem
Just consider this to be a giant conspiracy designed to keep
the uneducated from ever understanding chemistry 
[# ATOMS X ATOMIC MASS]
D.Molar Mass – mass of one mole of a pure substance
1. Molar mass is numerically equal to formula mass
2. 1 mole = Molar mass in grams
3. 1 mole = 6.022 x 1023 particles (Avogadro’s Number)
4. Molar mass of a compound can be used as a
conversion factor to relate an amount in moles to a
mass in grams for a given substance
EXAMPLE:
Na2SO4 Ba3(PO4)2

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E. MOLES – MASS – MOLECULES
1. MOLES to GRAMS (Use Molar mass as conversion factor)
Given amt in moles Molar mass given
1 mol given

4.27 mol TiO2 to grams

2. GRAMS to MOLES (Use Molar mass as conversion factor)

Given amt in grams 1 mol given
Molar mass given
50.0 g NH3 to moles

3. MOLES to MOLECULES (1 mole = 6.022 x 1023 molecules)

Given amt moles 6.022 x 1023 molecules
1 mol given
0.30 mol Sr(NO3)2 to molecules

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 4. MOLECULES to MOLES (1 mole = 6.022 x 1023 molecules)
Given amt molecules 1 mol given
6.022 x 1023 molecules

4.36 x 1025 molecules C6H5CH3 to moles

5. GRAMS to MOLECULES (Molar mass & 6.022 x 1023 molecules)

Given amt in grams 1 mol given 6.022 x 1023 molecules
Molar Mass in grams 1 mol given
72.5 grams CHCl3 to molecules

6. MOLECULES to GRAMS (Molar mass & 6.022 x 1023 molecules)

Given amt molecules 1 mol given Molar Mass in grams
6.022 x 1023 molecules 1 mol given
8.39 x 1023 molecules F2 to grams

PRACTICE PROBLEMS p. 223, 225, 226 / SECTION REVIEW p. 228

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 D.PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION – percent by mass of
each element in a compound
mass of element
If mass in grams in given: %  total mass x 100
If only formula is given, find Molar Mass
mass of element
% x 100
molar mass of compound

A good check is to see if the results add up to 100%

(rounding will cause a slight discrepancy)
Your final answers should have 2 decimal places
Determine the % composition of:
a. Ba3(PO4)2 b. MgSO47H2O

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CALCULATING MASS PERCENT
mass of element
% x 100
total mass

Calculate the % composition of the compounds that are formed

from these reactions:
a. 222.6 g N combines completely with 77.4 g O
b. 2.62 g Na and 4.04 g Cl are formed by the decomposition of
table salt

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IV. DETERMINING CHEMICAL FORMULAS
A. Calculation of Empirical Formulas
1. Empirical formula – consist of the symbols for the
elements combined in a compound, with subscripts
showing the smallest whole-number ratio of the
different atoms in the compound
2. If % comp. is given, assume 100 g of substance
% = mass in grams of element
3. Calculate # mole of each element (mass/atomic
mass)
4. Divide each # of mole by the smallest value to get
the simplest ratio of subscripts.
Multiply by an integer if needed to convert to
whole number (.5 x 2, .33 x 3, .25 x 4)

Determine the empirical formula of a compound containing

52.11% C, 13.14% H and 34.75% O

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 A 175 g sample of compound contains 56.15 g C, 9.43 g
H, 74.81 g O, 13.11 g N, and 21.49 g Na. Find the
empirical formula.

Determine the empirical formula of a compound containing

40.9% carbon, 4.58% H and 54.5% O.

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B. Calculation of Molecular formula
1. Molecular formula – the actual formula of a
molecular compound; gives actual # of atoms
present in the compound
2. Find empirical formula (EF) if it is not given
3. Calculate EF Mass (same as molar mass calculation)
4. Determine the multiple (n) – actual ratio of elements
in compound
Molecular Formula mass
n
Empirical Formula mass

5. MF = (EF)n
What is the molecular formula of a compound that has an
empirical formula of CH2O and a molar mass of 120.12
g/mol?

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Determine the molecular formula for ibuprofen, a common
headache remedy. Analysis of ibuprofen yields a molar
mass of 206 g/mol and a percent composition of 75.7% C,
8.80% H and 15.5% O.

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 ANALYSIS BY COMBUSTION
C?H? + O2  CO2 + H2O
All carbons go to carbon dioxide
All hydrogens go to water
1. To find formulas, we need grams of carbon and grams of
hydrogen in original hydrocarbon.
12.01 g C
a. g Carbon  g CO  44.01 g CO
2
2

2.02 g H2
b. g Hydrogen  g H O  18.02 g H O
2
2

c. g Carbon & g Hydrogen can now be used to determine

empirical formula
d. If compound also contain oxygen, find g Oxygen
g Oxygen  Sample Mass  [g C  g H2 ]

A 0.1014 gram sample of purified glucose was burned in a C-H

combustion train to produce 0.1486 gram of CO2 and 0.0609 gram
of H2O. An elemental analysis showed that glucose contains only
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Determine the masses of C, H,
and O in the sample and the % of these elements in glucose

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In the previous exercise, we found the elemental composition of
glucose. Other experiments show that its molecular weight is
approximately 180 amu. Determine the empirical formula and
the molecular formula of glucose.

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