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Chapter 3: Problem 2

What information do we get from a chemical formula? From a chemical equation?

Short Answer

Expert verified
A chemical formula provides information about the composition and types of atoms in a compound, such as in the formula H₂O, where 'H' represents hydrogen, 'O' represents oxygen, and the subscripts indicate the number of atoms of each element. On the other hand, a chemical equation, like \( 2H_{2} + O_{2} \rightarrow 2H_{2}O \), gives information about how compounds react with each other and the resulting products, while maintaining the law of conservation of mass.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding a chemical formula

A chemical formula is a representation of a compound consisting of symbols of elements and their respective subscripts. The symbols represent the elements present in the compound, and the subscripts indicate the number of atoms of each element. For example, consider the formula H₂O. In this formula, 'H' represents hydrogen and 'O' represents oxygen. The subscript '2' indicates that there are two hydrogen atoms, and there is only one oxygen atom, as there is no subscript with the oxygen symbol.
02

Analyzing a chemical equation

A chemical equation represents a chemical reaction in which reactants (compounds on the left side of the equation) combine to form products (compounds on the right side of the equation). The equation includes the symbols and formulas of the compounds involved, and it is balanced to show that the law of conservation of mass is maintained. This means that the number of atoms of each element remains the same before and after the reaction. For example, consider the chemical equation: \[ 2H_{2} + O_{2} \rightarrow 2H_{2}O \] This equation describes the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to form water. The balanced equation shows that two molecules of hydrogen react with one molecule of oxygen, producing two molecules of water.
03

Identifying information from a chemical formula

From the chemical formula H₂O, we can determine the following information: 1. The compound contains hydrogen and oxygen atoms. 2. There are two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom in each molecule of the compound. 3. The ratio of hydrogen to oxygen in the compound is 2:1.
04

Identifying information from a chemical equation

From the chemical equation \( 2H_{2} + O_{2} \rightarrow 2H_{2}O \), we can gather the following information: 1. The reactants are hydrogen gas (H₂) and oxygen gas (O₂). 2. The product of the reaction is water (H₂O). 3. The balanced equation shows that two molecules of hydrogen react with one molecule of oxygen, producing two molecules of water. 4. The law of conservation of mass is maintained: the total number of atoms of each element remains the same before and after the reaction.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

The aspirin substitute, acetaminophen \(\left(\mathrm{C}_{8} \mathrm{H}_{9} \mathrm{O}_{2} \mathrm{~N}\right)\), is produced by the following three-step synthesis: I. \(\mathrm{C}_{6} \mathrm{H}_{5} \mathrm{O}_{3} \mathrm{~N}(s)+3 \mathrm{H}_{2}(g)+\mathrm{HCl}(a q) \longrightarrow\) $$ \mathrm{C}_{6} \mathrm{H}_{3} \mathrm{ONCl}(s)+2 \mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O}(t) $$ II. \(\mathrm{C}_{6} \mathrm{H}_{8} \mathrm{ONCl}(s)+\mathrm{NaOH}(a q) \longrightarrow\) $$ \mathrm{C}_{6} \mathrm{H}_{7} \mathrm{ON}(s)+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O}(t)+\mathrm{NaCl}(a q) $$ III. \(\mathrm{C}_{6} \mathrm{H}_{7} \mathrm{ON}(s)+\mathrm{C}_{4} \mathrm{H}_{6} \mathrm{O}_{3}(l) \longrightarrow\) $$ \mathrm{C}_{8} \mathrm{H}_{9} \mathrm{O}_{2} \mathrm{~N}(s)+\mathrm{HC}_{2} \mathrm{H}_{3} \mathrm{O}_{2}(l) $$ The first two reactions have percent yields of \(87 \%\) and \(98 \%\) by mass, respectively. The overall reaction yields 3 moles of acetaminophen product for every 4 moles of \(\mathrm{C}_{6} \mathrm{H}_{3} \mathrm{O}_{3} \mathrm{~N}\) reacted. a. What is the percent yield by mass for the overall process? b. What is the percent yield by mass of Step III?

Maleic acid is an organic compound composed of \(41.39 \% \mathrm{C}\). \(3.47 \% \mathrm{H}\), and the rest oxygen. If \(0.129\) mole of maleic acid has a mass of \(15.0 \mathrm{~g}\), what are the empirical and molecular formulas of maleic acid?

A compound that contains only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen is \(48.64 \% \mathrm{C}\) and \(8.16 \% \mathrm{H}\) by mass. What is the empirical formula of this substance?

Give the balanced equation for each of the following chemical reactions: a. Glucose \(\left(\mathrm{C}_{6} \mathrm{H}_{12} \mathrm{O}_{6}\right)\) reacts with oxygen gas to produce gaseous carbon dioxide and water vapor. b. Solid iron(III) sulfide reacts with gaseous hydrogen chloride to form solid iron(III) chloride and hydrogen sulfide gas. c. Carbon disulfide liquid reacts with ammonia gas to produce hydrogen sulfide gas and solid ammonium thiocyanate \(\left(\mathrm{NH}_{4} \mathrm{SCN}\right)\).

Glass is a mixture of several compounds, but a major constituent of most glass is calcium silicate, \(\mathrm{CaSiO}_{3-}\) Glass can be etched by treatment with hydrofluoric acid; HF attacks the calcium silicate of the glass, producing gaseous and water-soluble products (which can be removed by washing the glass). For example, the volumetric glassware in chemistry laboratories is often graduated by using this process. Balance the following equation for the reaction of hydrofluoric acid with calcium silicate. $$ \mathrm{CaSiO}_{3}(s)+\mathrm{HF}(a q) \longrightarrow \mathrm{CaF}_{2}(a q)+\mathrm{SiF}_{4}(g)+\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O}(l) $$
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