Question

Write the characteristics of a compound. List the steps to write formula of a compound.

Answer 1

Compounds: Compounds are chemical substances made up of two or more elements that are chemically bound together in a fixed ratio.

• When two or more elements chemically combine in a fixed ratio by mass, the obtained product is known as a compound.
• Compounds can be defined as substances consisting of 2 or more different types of elements in a fixed ratio of their atoms.
• When the elements combine, some individual property of the elements is lost and the newly formed compound has new properties.
• The chemical formula of water is H₂O which shows two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen have combined to form one molecule of H₂O.
• The chemical formula for common salt is NaCl which shows one atom of sodium and one atom of chlorine combined to form one molecule of NaCl.
• Example of compounds includes water (H₂O), Hydrogen Peroxide (H₂O^₂), etc. You could see water’s chemical formula, it says it has 2 atoms of Hydrogen combined with 1 atom of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, it has 2 atoms of hydrogen and two atoms of oxygen.
• Similarly, an example of salt would be table salt (NaCl) which has 1 atom of sodium and one atom of chlorine.