how do you read a chemical formula?

Answer 1

OK pretend the formula is CO2
C= carbon (you have to look on the periodic table of elements to figure out which chemicals are in it!)
O= oxygen
if there is not a number under the number there is one particle of that element. so there is one carbon particle in the chemical formula CO2. but since there is a two under the O there are 2 particles of oxygen! I hope I helped

Answer 2

Every element on the earth is assigned a Chemical symbol and all these can be found on the periodic table of elements.
A chemical formula is a way of writing some substances shorthand in note, as some chemical substances can be long.
1-2 Dibromopent-2-ene
It is a lot easier to write C5H8Br2 than 1-2dibromopent-2-ene in notes. And that is why we use them/

To read a chemical formula, you need a periodic table to identify the elements or a good knowledge of the majority of elements. The formula tells us what atom is in a molecule and how many.
E.g. C6H12O6 is one glucose molecule. in one glucose molecule there are 6carbons, 12 hydrogens and 6 oxygens. Also each element has a relative atomic mass, a formula enables us to work out the molecular mass glucose is (12x6)+(1x12)+(16x6) = 180.

A formula may have a state symbol inbrackets after the compound. This tells us the state of the reactant in the reaction. (s) =Solid (l)= liquid (g) = gaseous and (aq) = aqueous/ in solution/

Also further in chemistry, moles are introduced for reactions, and this also simplifies writing them out. As a large number means the number of molecules of that compound are needed to make how many other compounds (the reagent)

Answer 3

For organics you start by finding the longest carbon chain, and that becomes the root word. So if the longest is 3, its propane, 4, butane, 5 pentane etc. Then you look at whether or not there are other atoms involved. Lets say you have a pentane with an alcohol group and a Chlorine group:

CH3-CH(Cl)-CH2-CH2--CH2-OH

So you look at that and see the longest carbon chain is 5, so its a pentane...then you look at what and were the addditional elements are. You see a Cl attached to carbon 2, so you modify the name to 2-chloro pentane. But! there is also an alcohol group on carbon 5. So you modify the name again to
1-chloro-5-propanol. the ANE changes to ANOL because its an alcohol.

Thats the basic way of doing it, its slightly different for other elements and C=C double bonds etc, but the differences are only slight.

For inorganics and salts its a little different but most follow the general rule of the cation-anide naming, so:

NaOH = Sodium Hydroxide
AgCl2 = Silver Chrloride

There will definitely be exceptions like:

AgNO3 = Silver Nitrate, so you have to know that NO3 is a nitrate ion, but what I wrote above should get you started in the right direction!

Answer 4

its simple

look at the symbols, then find where the symbol is in the periodic table and then read it.
For instance: MgO is Magnesium Oxide. The nonmetal in an ionic compound are usually said by using 'ide' like choride, Oxide, Fluoride, Nitride. But when u say abt the element itself u say Oxygen, Nitrogen. When a compound has both nonmetals then u use words like di, tri, tetra for example, P2O3 wud be diphosphorus tetraoxide. When metal in a compound has more than one valency like Iron (II) and Iron (III), Iron (III) Chloride. But u don't mention the valency of the nonmetal in an ionic compound. Hope I helped. Good luck wid chemistry

Answer 5

What do you mean exactly?

In ionic compounds, you name all the elements by their regular names and on the last element, change the ending to -ide. EX:Sodium Hydroxide.

In a covalent compound, you use suffixes and change the last ending to -ide.
EX: H2O would be Dihydrogen Monoxide.

In a metallic compound, simply name the metal.