INTRODUCTION OF CHEMISTRY- FUNDAMENTALS

Valency chart:
I. Monovalent Electropositive ions
II. Monovalent Electronegative ions
 III. Divalent electropositive ions

Ion Symbol Charge

Beryllium Be2+

Magnesium Mg2+

Calcium Ca2+

Strontium Sr2+

Barium Ba2+

Radium Ra2+

Copper Cu2+
Cupric (or) Copper (II)

Hg2+
Mercury Mercuric (or) Mercury
(II)

Fe2+
Iron Ferrous (or)
Iron (II)
+2
Cr2+ (or)
Chromium Chromous

Co2+
Cobalt (or) Cobaltous or
Cobalt (II)

Ni2+
Nickel
Mn2+
Manganese Manganous or
Manganese (II)

Cd2+
Cadmium
Zn2+
Zinc
Pb2+ Plumbous or lead
Lead (II)

Sn2+ Stannous or Tin

Tin (II)
IV. Divalent electronegative ions
V. Trivalent electropositive ions
Ion Symbol Charge
Iron Fe3+
Ferric or Iron (III)
3
Manganese Mn
Manganic or Manganese (III)
Aluminium Al3
Gold Au 3
Auric or gold (III)
Antimony Sb3+ +3
Antimonous or Antimony (III)
As3+
Arsenic
Arsenous or Aresenic (III)
Chromium Cr 3

Cobalt Co3+
Cobaltic or Cobalt (III)
Boron B3

VI. Trivalent electronegative ions

Ion Symbol Charge

Aluminate AlO3-
3

Arsenite AsO3-
3

Arsenate AsO34
Arsenide As3
Boride B3
Borate BO3-3

Nitride N 3
Phosphide P 3- –3
Phosphite PO33
Phosphate PO34
3
Ferricyanide  Fe  CN 6  Iron  III 
3
Cobaltnitrite Co  NO 2 6  Cobalt  III 
Oxychloride OCl3
Oxybromide OBr 3
Oxyiodide Ol3
VII. Tetravalent electropositive ions

VIII. Tetravalent electronegative ions

IX. Pentavalent electropositive ions

Chemical formula :
The representation of a molecule of a substance (element or
compound) in terms of symbols and subscript numbers is known as a
formula.
The symbol of an element represents one individual atom of the
element. Some of the elements no doubt exist independently.
Examples : He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Fe, Hg, Co etc. However, many
elements occur in combination with one or more atoms of its own
kind or with one or more atoms of other elements as molecules.
According to the molecular concept of matter, a molecule is the
smallest unit of matter capable of independent existence. Molecules
containing 1, 2 or 3 atoms are called monatomic, diatomic or
triatomic molecules respectively. If they contain more than 3 atoms
they may be described as polyatomic. Thus the representation of a
molecule of an element or a compound in terms of symbols and
figures is defined as chemical formula.
Examples : H2, H2O, SO2, NH3, O3, H2SO4.
H2 stands for a molecule of hydrogen consisting of two hydrogen
atoms. H2O stands for a molecule of water consisting of 2 atoms of
hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. Thus the number of atoms of
each present in the molecule is indicated by the number on its right
hand corner as subscript.
Thus H2SO4 stands for one molecule of sulphuric acid which
contains 2 atoms of hydrogen, one atom of sulphur and 4 atoms of
oxygen.
Significance of a formula
Like the symbols, a formula has also qualitative as well as
quantitative significance.
Qualitative significance: Qualitatively, it represents :
i) The name of the substance.
ii) The names of various elements present in the substance.
Quantitative significance: Quantitatively, it represents :
i) One molecule of the substance.
ii) The actual number of atoms of each element present in one
molecule of the substance.
iii) The number of parts by weight of the substance
(molecular weight).
iv) The number of parts by weight of each element.
Examples: The formula of CaCO3 has two significances.
Qualitatively, it represents.
i) Calcium carbonate.
ii) It contains calcium, carbon and oxygen as the elements.
Quantitatively it represents.
i) One molecule of calcium carbonate
ii) One molecule of calcium carbonate is made up of one atom of
calcium, one atom of carbon and three atoms of oxygens.
iii) One mole of calcium carbonate.
iv) 100 parts by weight of calcium carbonate (atomic weights
: Ca - 40, C - 12,O - 16)
v) 40 parts by weight of calcium, 12 parts by weight
of carbon and 48 parts by weight of oxygen.
The following are the formulae of some of the molecules of
elements and compounds generally used in the laboratory.
Criss cross method
One of the most important points to remember while writing the
formula of a chemical compound is that it is always electrically
neutral. In other words, the positive and negative valencies of the
ions or radicals present in the chemical compound add up to zero.
To write a formula follow the steps given below. This method of
writing a formula is called the criss-cross method.
Step I : Write the symbol of the positive ion or the radical to the left
and the negative ion or the radical to the right.
Step II: Put the valency number of each of the radical or ion on its
top right. Divide the valency number by the highest common factor,
if any, to get simple ratio. Now ignore the (+) and (-) symbols.
Interchange the valency numbers of the radicals.
Step III: Shift the valency number to the lower right of the ion or the
radical. If radical receives a number more than 1, enclose it within
brackets. Do not enclose single atom within brackets.
Examples-1: Writing the formula of alumunium sulphate
Step I : Write the symbols of the combining units side by side.
Cation on the L.H.S. and the anion on R.H.S
Al SO4
Step.II: Enclose the compound Ion, if any, in a bracket, eg. keep
SO4 as (SO4)
Step.III: Write the numerical value of the charge on top
Al3 (SO4)2
Step IV: If the charges of the two ions are divisible by a common
factor, then reduce the numerals.
Step V: Finally, criss-cross the numerical values of their charges to
obtain the formula.
. Complete the following table

Cations Anions

Bicarbonate Nitrite Borate Iodide Thiosulphate

Cadmium CdS2O3
Chromium CrI3
Nickel Ni3(BO3)2
Potassium KHCO3
Lead (II) PbI2
Barium Ba3(BO3)2
Ammonium NH4NO
2
Manganese MnS2O3
Iron (III) Fe(HCO3)3
Following the various steps for writing a formula, write formulae of the
following compounds :
1) Zinc chloride
2) Copper bromide
3) Potassium chloride
4) Bismuth iodide
5) Calcium Ferricyanide
6) Cadmium phosphate
7) Potassium ferrocyanide
8) Sodium meta-aluminate
9) Sodium cobaltnitrite
10) Sodium peroxide
11) Bismuth oxychloride
12) Zinc Ferrocyanide
13) Ammonium sulphocyanide
14) Calcium nitrate
15) Nickel bromide
16) Chromium sulphate
17) Lead acetate
18) Ammonium nitrite
19) Cuprous chloride
20) Mercurous nitrate
21) Manganese phosphate
22) Manganese sulphate
23) Sodium dichromate
24) Barium silicate
25) Stannic chloride
26) Potassium zincate
27) Sodium cyanide
28) Potassium metaborate
29) Zinc perchlorate
30) Strontium oxalate