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To figure out the chemical formula of a given compound all you need to
know are the valencies of the atoms that make the compound.
You can figure out the valency of an atom via the periodic table.
The group of the element (on the periodic table) tells you how many electrons
there are in the atom’s outer shell. From this information, you can figure out how
many electrons it needs to gain or lose to achieve a full outer shell. Groups 1-3
(metals) will LOSE electrons. Groups 5-7 (non-metals) will GAIN electrons. Group
4 can do either.
Also remember, many atoms will become ions due to the loss or gain of electrons
in ionic bonding. This means the valency of an atom will also tell you the charge
of its respective ion (i.e. Sodium ion = +1 charge. Chloride ion = -1 charge etc.)
So once you know the valencies of the atoms, all you need to do
is swap the numbers around and cancel them out if they are equal. Take
a look at the examples below, you will understand what I mean:
Examples
oFormula is therefore
2. What is the formula for Aluminium Oxide?
o Al (valency 3) + Oxygen (valency 2)
o Swap the two numbers around
oFormula is therefore
3. What is the formula for Calcium Oxide?
o Ca (valency 2) + Oxygen (valency 2)
o In this case, because the valencies are equal, you
must cancel them out
o Formula is therefore just CaO
Writing equations
This skill will be briefly introduced here and developed further
throughout the course. All chemical reactions can be represented by
equations. You need to know how to write both word equations and
symbol equations.
Word equation
These are very simple. You simply write the equation in words. For
example:
Symbol equations
This is the most common type. Atoms and compounds are represented
by their symbols. This is a bit more complex because the equation needs
to balance.
A balanced equation means that there are the same number of each type
of atom on both sides of the chemical equation. For example:
As we learnt above, we know that the chemical formula for magnesium oxide is
MgO because magnesium and oxygen both have a valency of 2 which cancels out.
Now if you look closely, the above equation is not balanced. Why?
Because the left hand side has two oxygen atoms, but the right hand side
only has one.
At this point you may ask. Why can’t the oxygen just be written as a single O
instead of O2? Then that would solve the issue. Unfortunately it doesn’t work
that way because some elements will always be found in molecules (i.e. two
atoms bonded together). Oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, and hydrogen are all
examples of this.
Then can we change the formula of magnesium oxide into MgO2 to balance the
equation? No. We can’t do that. We know that the formula is MgO. You
can notchange the original chemical formula of a compound.
LHS = 2 Mg and 2 O
RHS = 2 Mg and 2 O
State symbols
State symbols represent the physical state in which the reactions or
products are in a chemical reaction. For example:
Calculations
Definitions
Mole equations
Many of the calculations that you’ll need to do will involve the concept of
moles. There are three important equations that you need to learn:
You must memorize these three equations off by heart and also have the ability
to rearrange them. A lot of the calculation examples below will make use of
these equations so you must be comfortable with these.
*The mole ratio is the ratio of ‘big numbers’ in front of the reactants and
products inside the equation. In this case, Mg and MgO both have a number 2 at
the front. Therefore the ratio is 2:2 (and thus 1:1). In this scenario, one mole of
Mg will form one mole of MgO. Theoretically, if the ratio was 1:2 that would
mean one mole of Mg would make 2 moles of MgO.
Since 0.125 moles of MgO is formed, the mass can be calculated via
mole equation 1
0.125 X (24+16) = 5.0g of MgO has been produced from 3g of Mg in
excess oxygen.
*The way you approach this question is very similar to example 4 from ‘reacting
masses’ above. To calculate the volume of oxygen required, all you need to know
is the moles of oxygen that is required. We know that the mole ratio of butene
to oxygen is 1:6so that means for every mole of butene, 6 moles of oxygen is
required. All we need to know, then, is the amount of moles in 1.4g of butene and
that is easy!
*Using the mole equation above, start by calculating the amount of moles in
sulphuric acid. The mole ratio here is 1:2, meaning for every mole of sulphuric
acid, double the amount of sodium hydroxide will be required. Once you’ve
figured out the required amount of moles of sodium hydroxide, the volume can
easily be obtained by rearranging the formula.
% Yield
In a chemical reaction, theexpected/calculated amount of product is the
theoretical yield. Unfortunately however, the product
amount actually produced (actual yield) is often lower than this
theoretical amount. Taking a ratio of these two values gives us the %
yield.
Example – Excess magnesium carbonate was added to 25cm^3 sulfuric
acid, concentration of 2.0mol/dm^3. The unreacted magnesium
carbonate was removed by filtration. The solution of magnesium sulfate
was evaporated to give 6.7g of hydrated magnesium sulfate crystals.
Calculate the percentage yield
The question tells you that 6.7g of crystals were formed, so therefore this
is the actual yield.
% Purity
Example – 7.0g of impure calcium carbonate was heated and 2.42g of
carbon dioxide was collected. Calculate the percentage purity of the
calcium carbonate
Chemical equation:
The key thing here is that carbon dioxide can only be made from pure
calcium carbonate. The impurities in the original sample (of 7.0g)
will not contribute to the production of carbon dioxide.