Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

Fifth Edition

Chapter 3
Molecules, Compounds,
and Chemical Equations

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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.

Mixtures and Compounds

• In a mixture, elements can mix in any proportions
whatsoever (hydrogen, H2, and oxygen, O2).
• In a compound, elements combine in fixed, definite
proportions (water, H2O).

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Definite Proportion (1 of 2)
• A hydrogen–oxygen 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.

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Definite Proportion (2 of 2)

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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 broadly classified into two types:
– ionic and
– covalent.

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Ionic Bonds
• Ionic bonds, which occur between metals and nonmetals,
involve the transfer of electrons from the metal atom to the
nonmetal atom.
• The metal atom then becomes a cation while the nonmetal
atom becomes an anion.
• These oppositely charged ions attract one another by
electrostatic forces and form an ionic bond.

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The Formation of Ionic Compounds

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Covalent Bonds
• Covalent bonds occur between two or more nonmetals.
The two atoms share electrons between them, composing
a molecule.
• Covalently bonded compounds are also called molecular
compounds.

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Representing Compounds: Chemical
Formulas and Molecular Models
• A compound’s chemical formula indicates the elements
present in the compound and the relative number of atoms
or ions of each.
– Water is represented as H2O.
– Sodium Chloride is represented as NaCl.
– Carbon dioxide is represented as CO2.
– Carbon tetrachloride is represented as CCl4.

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Types of Chemical Formulas (1 of 4)
• Chemical formulas can generally be categorized into
three different types:
– empirical formulas
– molecular formulas
– structural formulas

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Types of Chemical Formulas (2 of 4)
• 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 the molecule of a compound.
a. For H2O2, the greatest common factor is 2.
The empirical formula is therefore HO.
b. For B2H6, the greatest common factor is 2.
The empirical formula is therefore BH3.
c. For CCl4, the only common factor is 1, so the empirical
formula and the molecular formula are identical.

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Types of Chemical Formulas (3 of 4)
• A structural formula uses lines to represent covalent
bonds and shows how atoms in a molecule are connected
or bonded to each other.
• It can also show the molecule’s geometry.
• The structural formula for H2O2 can be shown as either of
the following.

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Molecular Models (1 of 2)
• 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 molecule’s shape.
• The balls are typically color-coded to
specific elements.

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Molecular Models (2 of 2)
• In a space-filling molecular model, atoms fill the space
between each other to more closely represent a best
estimate for how a molecule might appear if scaled to
visible size.

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An Atomic-Level View of Elements and
Compounds
• Elements may be either atomic or molecular.
• Compounds may be either molecular or ionic.

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View of Elements and Compounds
• Atomic elements exist in nature with single atoms as
their basic units. Most elements fall into this category.
– Examples include Na, Ne, K, Mg, etc.
• Molecular elements do not normally exist in nature with
single atoms as their basic units; instead, they exist as
molecules—two or more atoms of the element bonded
together.
– There are only seven diatomic elements and they are
H2, N2, O2, F2, Cl2, Br2, and I2.
– Also, P4 and S8 are polyatomic elements.

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Molecular Elements

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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.

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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.
• Table salt is an ionic compound with the formula unit NaCl,
which is composed of Na+ and Cl– ions in a one-to-one
ratio.

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

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Naming Binary Ionic Compounds of
Type I Cations
One

• Binary compounds contain only two different elements.

The names of binary ionic compounds take the following
form:

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Examples: Type I Binary Ionic
One

Compounds
• 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.

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Naming Type II Ionic Compounds
Two

• The second type of ionic compound contains a metal that

can form more than one kind of cation, depending on the
compound, bonded to a nonmetal anion.
• The metal’s charge must be specified for a given
compound.
• The proportion of metal cation to nonmetal anion helps us
determine the charge on the metal ion.

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Type II Ionic Compounds
Two

• 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.
– FeS: Here, iron is +2 cation (Fe2+).
– Fe2S3: 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, Ti, and Sn, form
more than one type of cation.

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Naming Type II Binary Ionic
Two

Compounds (1 of 2)
• The full name of 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.

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Naming Type II Binary Ionic
Two

Compounds (2 of 2)
• 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  Iron(II)
▪ Fe3    Iron(III)

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Polyatomic Ions
• 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−.
– Mg(ClO3)2 contains Mg2+ and ClO3−.

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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.

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Table 3.4 Some Common Polyatomic
Ions
Name Formula Name Formula
Acetate C2H3O2− Hypochlorite ClO−
Carbonate CO32− Chlorite ClO2−
Hydrogen carbonate HCO3− Chlorate ClO3−
(or bicarbonate) Perchlorate ClO4−
Hydroxide OH−
Permanganate MnO4−
Nitrite NO2−
Sulfite SO32−
Nitrate NO3−
Hydrogen sulfite (or bisulfite) HSO3−
Chromate CrO42−
Sulfate SO42−
Dichromate Cr2O72−
Hydrogen sulfate (or bisulfate) HSO4−
Phosphate PO43−
Cyanide CN−
Hydrogen phosphate HPO42− Peroxide O22−
Dihydrogen phosphate H2PO4−
Ammonium NH4+

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Oxyanions (1 of 2)
• 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.
– SO42– is sulfate.
– NO2– is nitrite.
– SO32– is sulfite.

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Oxyanions (2 of 2)
• 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− hypochlorite BrO– hypobromite

ClO2– chlorite BrO2– bromite
ClO3– chlorate BrO3– bromate
ClO4– perchlorate BrO4– perbromate

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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.

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Common Hydrate Prefixes
• Common hydrate prefixes

hemi = ½ tri = 3 hexa = 6

mono = 1 tetra = 4 hepta = 7
di = 2 penta = 5 octa = 8
• Other common hydrated ionic compounds and their
names are as follows:
– CaSO4  ½ H2O is called calcium sulfate hemihydrate.
– BaCl2  6H2O is called barium chloride hexahydrate.
– CuSO4  6H2O is called copper sulfate hexahydrate.

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Molecular Compounds: Formulas and
Names (1 of 2)
• Unlike ionic compounds, 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.

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Molecular Compounds: Formulas and
Names (2 of 2)
• 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.

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Binary Molecular Compounds

• These prefixes are the same as those used in naming hydrates:

mono = 1 hexa = 6
di = 2 hepta = 7
tri = 3 octa = 8
tetra = 4 nona = 9
penta = 5 deca = 10
• If there is only one atom of the first element in the formula, the prefix
mono- is normally omitted.

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Acids (1 of 3)
• Acids are molecular compounds that release hydrogen
ions (H+) when dissolved in water.
• Acids are composed of hydrogen, usually written first in
their formulas, and one or more nonmetals, written
second.

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Acids (2 of 3)
• Sour taste
• Dissolve many metals
– such as Zn, Fe, and Mg;
but not Au, Ag, or Pt
• Formulas generally start
with H,
– e.g., HCl, H2SO4

• HCI is a molecular compound that, when dissolved in

water, forms H+(aq) and Cl−(aq) ions, where aqueous (aq)
means dissolved in water.
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Acids (3 of 3)

• Binary acids have H+ cation and nonmetal anion.

• Oxyacids have H+ cation and polyatomic anion.

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Naming Binary Acids
• Write a hydro- prefix.
• Follow with the nonmetal base name.
• Add -ic.
• Write the word acid at the end of the name.

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

oxyanions ending with -ate

oxyanions ending with -ite

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Practice: Name the Acid (1 of 2)
1. H2S

2. HClO3

3. HC2H3O2

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Practice: Name the Acid (2 of 2)
1. H2S hydrosulfuric acid

2. HClO3 chloric acid

3. HC2H3O2 acetic acid

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Writing Formulas for Acids
• When the name ends in acid, the formula starts with H
followed by an anion.
• Write the formula as if it is ionic, even though it is
molecular.
• Hydro- prefix means it is binary acid; no prefix means it is
an oxyacid.
• For an oxyacid,
– if the ending is -ic, the polyatomic ion ends in -ate.
– if the ending is -ous, the polyatomic ion ends in -ous.

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Acid Rain
• Certain pollutants, such as NO, NO2, SO2, and SO3, form
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.

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Inorganic Nomenclature Flowchart

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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 atoms H) 1.01 amu / H atom   1 atom O 16. 00 amu / atom O 
 18.02 amu

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Molar Mass of Compounds (1 of 2)
• The molar mass of a compound—the mass, in grams,
of 1 mol of its molecules or formula units—is numerically
equivalent to its formula mass with units of g /mol. ram

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Molar Mass of Compounds (2 of 2)
• 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 mol 1.01 g / 1 mol H   1 mol 16.00 g / 1 mol O 
 18.02 g / 1 mol H2O

So the molar mass of H2O is 18.02 g /mole. ram

• Molar mass = formula mass (in g /mole) ram

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Using Molar Mass to Count Molecules
by Weighing
• Molar mass in combination with Avogadro’s 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 Avogadro’s number to convert to number
of molecules.

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Composition of Compounds (1 of 2)
• A chemical formula, in combination with the molar
masses of its constituent elements, indicates the
relative quantities of each element in a compound.

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Composition of Compounds (2 of 2)
• Mass percentage of each element in a compound 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.
mass of element X in 1 mol of compound
Mass percent of element X   100%
mass of 1 mol of the compound

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Conversion Factors from Chemical
Formulas
• Chemical formulas show the relationship between numbers
of atoms and molecules.
– Or moles of atoms and molecules
58.64 g Cl : 100 g CCl2F2
1 mol CCl2F2 : 2 mol Cl

• These relationships can be used to determine the

amounts of constituent elements and molecules.
– Like percent composition

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Determining a Chemical Formula from
Experimental Data
Empirical Formula
• Simplest, whole-number ratio of the atoms or moles of
elements in a compound, not a ratio of masses
• Can be determined from elemental analysis
– Percent composition
– Masses of elements formed when a compound is
decomposed, or that react together to form a
compound

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Finding an Empirical Formula (1 of 2)
1. Convert the percentages to grams.
a. Assume you start with 100 g of the compound.
b. Skip if it is already in grams.
2. Convert grams to moles.
a. Use the molar mass of each element.
3. Write a pseudoformula using moles as subscripts.

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Finding an Empirical Formula (2 of 2)
4. Divide all by the 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. If ratio is .5, multiply all by 2.
b. If ratio is .33 or .67, multiply all by 3.
c. If ratio is 0.25 or 0.75, multiply all by 4, etc.
d. Skip if ratios are already whole numbers.

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Molecular Formulas for Compounds
• The molecular formula is a whole-number 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.

molar mass
n
empirical formula molar mass

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Combustion Analysis (1 of 2)
• A common technique for analyzing compounds is to burn a
known mass of compound and weigh the amounts of products.
– This is generally used for organic compounds containing C,
H, and O.
• By knowing the mass of the products and composition of the
constituent element in the product, the original amount of the
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.

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

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Modern Organic Compounds
• Today, organic compounds are commonly made in the lab and we
find them all around us.
• Organic compounds are the major components of living organisms.
• Composed of mainly C and H, sometimes with O, N, P, S, and trace
amounts of other elements.
• The key element of organic chemistry is carbon.

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Carbon Bonding (1 of 2)
• Carbon atoms bond almost exclusively covalently.
– Compounds with ionic bonding C are generally
inorganic.
• When C bonds, it forms four covalent bonds, including
single, double, and triple bonds.
• Carbon is unique in that it can bond with itself and form
limitless chains of C atoms, forming straight, branched,
and ring structures.

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Hydrocarbons (1 of 2)
• Organic compounds can be categorized into two types:
hydrocarbons and functionalized hydrocarbons.

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Hydrocarbons (2 of 2)
• Hydrocarbons are organic compounds that contain only
carbon and hydrogen.
• Hydrocarbons compose common fuels such as
– oil,
– gasoline,
– liquid propane gas,
– and natural gas.

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

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Common Hydrocarbons

*The “n” in the names of these hydrocarbons stands for “normal,” which means straight chain.

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Functionalized Hydrocarbons (1 of 2)
• 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 carbon–carbon double or triple bond can
justifiably be called a “functional group.”
• A group of organic compounds with the same functional
group forms a family.

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Functionalized Hydrocarbons (2 of 2)

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Families of Organic Compounds

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