Class VIII Language of Chemistry

(Concise Chemistry for Class IX) by Selina Publishers – 2019 edition

Exercise 1 (A)

1. What is a symbol? What information does it convey?

A symbol is the short form which stands for the atom of a specific
element or the abbreviations used for the names of elements.
a. It represents a specific element.
b. It represents one atom of an element.
c. It represents how many atoms are present in its one gram atom.
d. It represents the number of times an atom is heavier than one atomic
mass unit taken as standard.
2. Why is the symbol S for sulphur, but Na for sodium and Si for silicon?
In most cases the first letter of the name of the element is taken as the
symbol for that element.
But in some cases we form the symbols from their Latin names.
Therefore the symbol of Sulphur is “S”, symbol of sodium is “Na” (
Natrium – Latin name) and the symbol of Silicon is “ Si”
3. Write the full form of IUPAC. Name the elements represented by the
following symbols;
International Union of Pure And Applied Chemistry.
Au = Gold ( Aurum)
Pb = Lead (Plumbum)
Sn = Tin (Stannum)
Hg = Mercury (Hydrargyrum)
4. If the symbol for Cobalt, Co, were written as CO, what would be wrong
with it?
Co stands for Cobalt. If we write CO, then it would mean that it is
compound containing two non metals – Carbon and Oxygen which
forms Carbon monoxide.
5. What do the following symbols stand for?
H = Stands for one atom of hydrogen
H2 = Stands for one molecule of Hydrogen
 2H = Stands for two atoms of hydrogen
2H2 = Stands for two molecules of hydrogen.
6. What is meant by atomicity? Name a diatomic element.
The number of atoms of an element that join together to form a
molecule of that element is known as its atomicity. Diatomic element is
Oxygen = O2
7. a. Explain the terms “ valency” and “variable valency”
Valency is the combining capacity of the atom or element.
Variable valency is the valency of a metal atom that it can lose more
electron from a shell next to the valence shell in addition to the valence
shell.
b. How the elements of the variable valency named?
For the lower valency, we use suffix – “ous” at the end of the name of the
metal and for higher valency we use suffix” ic” at the end of the name of
the metal.
Example :- For Iron , Lower valency = Ferrous (Fe2+) and Higher valency
= Ferric (Fe3+)
8. Give the formula and valency of :-
Name Formula Valency
Aluminate AlO3 -3
Chromate CrO4 -2
Aluminium Al +3
Cupric Cu +2
9. What is a chemical formula? What is the significance of a formula? Give
example to illustrate.
The chemical formula of a substance is a symbolic representation of the
actual number of atoms present in one molecule of that substance.
Significance :- It represent both molecule and molecular mass of the
compound.
It represent the respective number of each atoms present in it.
It represent the ratio of respective masses of the elements present in the
compound.
Example :- the formula CO2 means:-
Molecular formula of CO2
 Each molecule containing one carbon and one oxygen atom,
The molecular mass = 44 ( C = 12, O = 2x16 =32)
10. What do you understand by the following terms?
a. Acid radical = are the electro negative or negatively charged radicals
b. Basic radical = are the electro positive or positively charged radicals.
11. Select the basic and acidic radicals in the following compounds.
a. MgSO4  Basic = Mg2+, Acidic = SO42-
b. (NH4)2SO4  Basic = NH4+, Acidic = SO42-
c. Al2(SO4)3  Basic = Al3+, Acidic = SO42-
d. ZnCO3  Basic = Zn2+, Acidic = CO32-
e. Mg(OH)2  Basic = Mg2+, Acidic = OH-
12. Write chemical formulae of sulphates of Aluminium, Ammonium
and Zinc.

13. The valency of an element A is 3 and that of element B is 2. Write

the formula of the compound formed by the combination of A and B.

14. Match the following.

Compound Formula
1. Boric acid H3BO3
2. Phosphoric acid H3PO4
3. Nitrous acid HNO2
4. Nitric acid HNO3
5. Sulphurous acid H2SO3
6. Sulphuric acid H2SO4
7. Hydrochloric acid HCl
 8. Silica SiO2
9. Caustic soda (Sodium hydroxide) NaOH
10. Caustic Potash (Potassium hydroxide) KOH
11. Washing soda (sodium carbonate) Na2CO3
12. Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) NaHCO3
13. Lime stone ( calcium carbonate) CaCO3
14. Water H2O
15. Hydrogen sulphide H2S
16. Ammonia NH3
17. Phosphine PH3
18. Methane CH4

15. Write the basic and acidic radicals of the following, then write the
chemical formula of these compounds..
Compound Basic radical Acidic radical Formula
Barium sulphate Ba2+ SO42- BaSO4
Bismuth nitrate Bi3+ NO3- Bi(NO3)3
Calcium bromide Ca2+ Br- CaBr2
Ferrous sulphide Fe 2+ S 2- FeS
Chromium sulphate Cr 3+ SO4 2- Cr2(SO4)3
Calcium silicate Ca 2+ SiO3 2- CaSiO3
Stannic oxide Sn4+ O2- SnO2
Sodium zincate Na + ZnO2 2- Na2ZnO2
Magnesium phosphate Mg 2+ PO4 3- Mg3(PO4)2
Sodium thiosulphate Na + S2O3 2- Na2S2O3
Stannic phosphate Sn4+ PO43- Sn3(PO4)4
Nickel bisulphate Ni2+ HSO4- Ni(HSO4)2
Potassium manganate K + MnO4 2- K2MnO4
Potassium ferrocyanide K + Fe(CN)6 4- K4Fe(CN)6
16. Write the chemical formula of the following compounds.

a. Calcium phosphate.

b. Potassium carbonate

c. Potassium manganate

d. Manganese borate
e. Magnesium bicarbonate

f. Sodium ferrocynide

g. Barium chlorate

h. Silver sulphite

i. Lead acetate

j. Sodium silicate.

17. Give the names of the following compounds.

a. Potassium hypochlorite
b. Potassium chlorite
c. Potassium chlorate
d. Potassium perchlorate
18. Complete the following by selecting the correct option.
a. A molecule
b. Iii. Al2O3
c. Four
19. Give the names of the element and number of atoms of that
element present in the following compounds.
Sodium Sulphate = Na2SO4 Sodium (Na) = 2,
Sulphur (S) = 1
Oxygen (O) = 4
Quick lime = CaO Calcium (Ca) = 1
Oxygen (O) = 1
Baking Soda = NaHCO3 Sodium (Na) =1
Hydrogen = 1
Carbon (C) = 1
Oxygen ( O) =3
Ammonia = NH3 Nitrogen (N) = 1
Hydrogen (H) = 3
Ammonium dichromate = Nitrogen (N) = 2
(NH4)2Cr2O7 Hydrogen (H) = 8
Chromium (Cr) = 2
Oxygen (O) = 7
20. The formula of the sulphate of an element M is M 2(SO4)3 Write
the formula of :-
a. Chloride
b. Oxide
c. Phosphate
d. Acetate

The valency of SO4 =2

Number of SO4 in M2(SO4)3 = 3

Therefore total valency shared by SO4 in M2(SO4)3 = 2 x 3 = 6

Niumber of M in M2(SO4)3 = 2

Therefore the valency of M = 6/2 = 3

Answers :-