Question

Give two characteristics of a chemical compound.

Answer 1

Compound: A compound is a pure substance in which elements combine chemically in a fixed composition to give a compound.

Two characteristics of a chemical compound are:

• The properties of a compound are entirely different from its constituent elements. Example: Hydrogen $\left(\mathrm{H}\right)$ and Oxygen $\left(\mathrm{O}\right)$ which are the constituents of water are gases while Water $\left({\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\right)$ is a liquid.
• A compound cannot be broken down into its constituent elements using physical methods of separation. Example: Iron sulphide $\left(\mathrm{FeS}\right)$ contains Iron $\left(\mathrm{Fe}\right)$ as one of the elements which gets attracted towards magnet but iron can not be separated from iron sulphide using a magnet. This is because iron is chemically combined with Sulphur $\left(\mathrm{S}\right)$ and thus only chemical or electrochemical methods of separation are useful for separation of elements from a compound.