Chemical Formula of Commom Substances

Group 1
This module was prepared to direct you on how to interpret the meaning of a given chemical
formula as well as to become familiar with the chemical formula of common chemical
substances Knowing the chemical formula of a certain substance, we could explain the
composition and the characteristics of that substance. In addition, familiarization on the
chemical formula of common substances, we could easily understand the information written
on the food and other product labels. In this manner, we could avoid a danger or misund of
products due to lack of familiarization to some chemical formulas. One danger could be
allergic reaction if a person took a medicine containing a component that is said to be allergen
to that person. The scope of this module covers many different learning situations where
students could relate their personal experiences on different samples of matter The language
used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The lessons are arranged to follow
the standard sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can be changed to
correspond with the textbook you are now using.
CHEMICAL FORMULA
Food, medicine and other product labels may sometime confuse you on the
ingredients or materials that contain them because these are written in their
chemical formula form. These formulas are often alien to us because of our lack of
understanding or idea about chemical formula. Most of the time, we associate
chemical formulas for scientists or chemists only. That is why some people tend to
lose interest on trying to understand the meaning of a chemical formula because to
them as ordinary perseria, this thing is not important and just a waste of time it
they will study it.
But because of the changing society coupled with information explosion, it
is important to us to grasp an idea on how to interpret a chemical formula, and
become acquainted with common formulas which we usually encounter every day.
This module will discuss the meaning of a given chemical formula as well as the
Formula of some common chemical substances
IMPORTANT VOCABULARY WORDS

1. SUBSCRIPT - A small number written at the lower right corner of a

chemical symbol.

2.CHEMICAL SYMBOL - An abbreviation that represents the name of an

element.
CHEMICAL FORMULA
namely chemical and formula Chemical refers to a compound or substance while Smule refers
to the symbolic expression. Thus, a chemical formula is a symbolic expression of a compound
or substance It is also described as shorthand of expressing the types and the number of stains in
a substance

What is the Meaning of a Given Chemical Formula?

Once again, chemical formula is the shorthand of expressing the types and the number ahoma in
a substance. For example, CO, is the chemical formula of a known as carbon dioxide. But what
does this Co, formula mean? What information can we get from this formula? In this substance
based from its formula of CO the said substance is made up of two types of atoms, these are
carbon and xygen. This is because the formula has two different letters that are written in capital
form. C and O. The capital letter is known as chemical symbol that represents a certain
substance known as element. Let us use the periodic table below to determine the chemical
symbol of the elements
The chemical formula also tells the number of each type
of atoms and the central atom of the molecule specifically
if it is not a diatomic molecule. The first chemical symbol
written at the right side of the formula tells us that it is
the central atom, or the atom located at the center of the
molecule So, for Co, since C is the first letter of the
chemical formula, the C which is the carbon atom is the
central atom.

If the letter is the chemical symbol that represents an element, the subscript represents the number
of atom in the chemical formula. In CO, the subscript of oxygen is 2 while carbon is 1. Even
though there is no number 1 indicated after letter C in CO,. it is presumed that there is one. So the
number after the letter refers to its number of atoms.
 CO2
Chemical Formula of Carbon dioxide

So let us take HCl as another example. Determine the atoma represented by chemical symbole
that make up the formula, and determine the number of each atom.
HYDROCHLORIC ACID
In the chemical formula HCL there are two elements which are combined together Ther hydrogen
represented by the chemical symbol of H and chlorine which a repented by the chemical symbol
of C. Note that the Im Ci is not expressed in capital letter This means that the letter is part of C1
and not ute chemical symbol. After determining that HCI has two combined chemical symbols.
The next step is to identify the number of atoms of each element that make up the chemical
formula So in HCL since there is no number written after H. prve umed that there is only 1 H The
same thing with Cl, there is only 1 atom