Topic 8 – Formulae & Equations

The objectives to be covered under this topic are:

1. State the symbols of the elements and formulae of the

compounds mentioned in the syllabus
2. Deduce the formula of a simple compound from relative
numbers of atoms present and vice versa
3. Determine the formula of an ionic compound from the charges
on the ion present and vice versa
4. Construct equations with the state symbols, including ionic
equations
5. Deduce from the experimental results of the identity of the
reactants and products, the balanced chemical equation for a
chemical reaction.

Symbol is an abbreviation or short form to represent any chemical element.

• Chemical symbols are listed in the Periodic Table and are used as
shorthand in chemical equations.

o Symbol is generally represented by the first capital letter of the

atom of that element.

o When more than one elements start with the same letter, the
first two letters is chosen or their first and third letter is chosen.

First letter only First two letter First & third letters

Boron (B) Aluminium (Al) Chlorine (Cl)

Carbon (C) Cobalt (Co) Magnesium (Mg)

Hydrogen (H) Barium (Ba) Zinc (Zn)

o Sometimes, their Latin names are chosen to derive symbols.

Exercise:

Look at the Periodic Table and find the symbols for these elements:

1. Iodine

2. Potassium

3. Lithium

4. Lead

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 Topic 8 – Formulae & Equations
5. Silver

Chemical Formulae of a substance consists of the symbols of the elements

it contains and some integers which show the number of atoms involved.

A chemical formula is a concise way of expressing information

about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical
compound.
• It identifies each types of element by their chemical symbols.

• Example of chemical formula is,

Sulphuric acid, H2SO4.

List the type and no. of elements present.

H – Hydrogen (2 atoms)

S – Sulphur (1 atom)

O – Oxygen (4 atoms)

• It denotes the number of atoms of such element to be found in each

discrete molecule of that compound. The number of atoms is indicated
as a subscript. Example, H2O

• The charges are written side by side with as the superscript. Example,
Na+ , Mg2+

• What if you see this compound?

Aluminium Sulphate Al2(SO4)3

Al – Aluminium (2 atoms)

S – Sulphur (3 atoms) (1 x 3)

O – Oxygen (12 atoms) (4 x 3)

If brackets are used, the no. to the bottom right of the bracket is the
no. of sets of atoms inside the bracket. E.g. (CO3)2 means 2 sets of CO3
= 2 Carbon & 6 Oxygen

Formulae of elements

• The symbol for hydrogen is H, it represents one hydrogen atom.

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 Topic 8 – Formulae & Equations
• Hydrogen gas, however, exists as a diatomic molecule. This applies to
all molecules of most gases.

• For example: Nitrogen N2

Hydrogen H2

Oxygen O2

Chlorine Cl2

Formulae of compounds

A simple compound is a molecule made up of two or more different

atoms.
• Example of a simple compound is water. Water consists of two
hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, expressed in the form of a
formula: H2O

An ionic compound is a substance whose molecules are made up of

charged ions held together by opposing charges.

• Ionic compound is formed when metal elements and non-metal

elements joined together.

• To work out the formula of an ionic compound, we need to know the

charges on the ions that form the compound.

What is an ‘ion’?

• An ion is a charged particle and a cation is a positively charged ion.

• When an ion is formed, the no. of protons and neutrons in the nucleus
remains unchanged.

Cation à Loses electron & become +vely charged

Anion à Gains electron & become –vely charged

Charge Ion Charge Ion

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 Topic 8 – Formulae & Equations
Na+ Cl-

Li+ Br-

+1 K+ -1 I-

H+ OH-

NH4+ NO3-

Ca2+
O2-
Mg2+
S2-
Zn 2+

+2 -2 CO32-
Fe2+
SO32-
Pb 2+

SO42-
Cu2+

Al3+
+3
Fe3+

Table of charges of some common ions

• The rules for determining ionic formulae are:

1. When no. of positive charges on one ion is the same as the no. of
negative charges on other ion, the formula is written as having one
of each ion.

Example, Symbol Charges

Mg +2

O -2

The formula for Magnesium Oxide should be written as Mg O

2. If charges are not balanced, the formula is calculated by crossing

over the no. of each charge.

Symbol Charges

Ca +2

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 Topic 8 – Formulae & Equations
Cl -1

The formula should be written as Ca Cl2

Exercise:

1. Complete the table of common ions below.

Ion Symbol Ion Symbol

Hydrogen ion Sodium ion

Lithium ion Potassium ion

Iodide ion Sulphide ion

Magnesium ion Calcium ion

Chloride ion Oxide ion

Iron (II) ion Aluminium ion

Iron (III) ion Fluoride ion

Nitride ion Bromide ion

Silver (II) ion Zinc ion

Ammonium Copper (II) ion

ion

Nitrate ion Carbonate ion

Sulphate ion Hydroxide ion

Phosphate ion Lead (II) ion

2. Work out the formula for the following compounds:

Potassium chloride, zinc bromide, barium oxide, magnesium hydroxide,

magnesium fluoride, sodium carbonate, zinc nitrate, ammonium chloride,
calcium carbonate and potassium sulphate

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 Topic 8 – Formulae & Equations

How to name a compound?

• Rules for naming compounds:

1. Compound with 2 elements usually ends with –ide. Metal is always

named first.

Elements
Name Formula
present

Calcium oxide CaO Calcium, Oxygen

Magnesium Magnesium,
MgCl2
chloride chlorine

For non-metals compound, element which is lower down the group

or smaller group no. is named first.

Name Formula Elements present

Sulphur dioxide SO2 Sulphur, Oxygen

Carbon disulphide CS2 Carbon, Sulphur

Water and ammonia are two exceptions.

2. The name of a compound that contains a metal, a non-metal and

oxygen usually ends with –ite or –ate

Name Formula Element present

Sodium Sodium, Sulphur,
Na2SO3
Sulphide Oxygen
Sodium Sodium, Sulphur,
Na2SO4
Sulphate Oxygen
Zinc Nitrate Zn(NO3)2 Zinc, Nitrogen, Oxygen
3. For a compound which contains an element that can form two or more
ions with different charges, a roman numeral is written after the name
of the element.

Name Formul Elements present Remark

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 Topic 8 – Formulae & Equations
a

Charge of iron is 2,
Iron (II) chloride FeCl2 Iron, Chlorine
Fe2+

Iron (III) Charge of iron is 3,

FeCl3 Iron, Chlorine
chloride Fe3+

Copper (II) Copper, Sulphur, Charge of copper is 2,

CuSO4
sulphate Oxygen Cu2+

4. If two or more compounds can be formed between two particular

elements, a prefix (e.g. mono, di, tri) is written in front of the name of
one of the elements to show the no. of atoms that is present in that
compound.

Name Formula Elements present

1 carbon and 1 oxygen

Carbon monoxide CO
atom

1 carbon and 2 oxygen

Carbon dioxide CO2
atom

1 sulphur and 2 oxygen

Sulphur dioxide SO2
atom

1 sulphur and 3 oxygen

Sulphur trioxide SO3
atom

5. A compound that contains a metal and the hydroxide ion, OH-, has a
name ending with hydroxide.

Name Formula Elements present

Zinc, hydrogen,
Zinc hydroxide Zn(OH)2
oxygen

Aluminium, hydrogen,
Aluminium hydroxide Al(OH)3
oxygen

6. The following are names of some common acids.

Name Formula Elements present

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Hydrochloric acid HCl Hydrogen, chlorine

Hydrogen, sulphur,
Sulphuric acid H2SO4
oxygen

Hydrogen, nitrogen,
Nitric acid HNO3
oxygen

Chemical Equations

A chemical equation is a representation of a chemical reaction using the

symbols for the participating particles.

• A typical chemical equation has the following form:

Reactant (s) catalyst

Product(s)

Reactant : substance that exist at the start of a chemical reaction

Product : substance that is created in a chemical reaction

Arrow (à) : indicates the direction in which the reaction proceeds

• The equation indicates the state of each reactant and product. (s) for
solid, (l) for liquid, (g) for gas and (aq) for aqueous which means
dissolved in water. All are written as subscript.

Example, 2Mg (s) + O2 (g) à 2MgO (s)

Word Equations

• Any chemical reaction that is known to take place can be written in the
form of a word equation. For example:

Carbon + oxygen gas à carbon dioxide gas

(Indicate on the equation, the reactant and the product)

Writing Balanced Equations

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 Topic 8 – Formulae & Equations
When a chemical reaction takes place, reactants are converted into
products. However, the mass of the reactants and products are identical
(mass is conserved). This means we must write a balanced equation for a
reaction.

A number of steps can be followed to write a balanced equation:

1. Write out a word equation for the reaction

2. Write a chemical equation underneath the word equation (using

your knowledge of valencies to work out formulae of reactants and
products)

3. See where the equation is not balanced and add the appropriate
numbers in front of each formula.

Example, methane burns in oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water

1. Methane + oxygen à carbon dioxide +

water

2. CH4 + O2 à CO2 + H2O

1C, 4H 2O 1C, 2O 2H, 1 O

Balance the H atoms by writing 2H2O

3. CH4 + O2 à CO2 + 2H2O

1C, 4H 2O 1C, 2O 4H, 2O

Balance the O atoms by writing 2O2

4. CH4 + 2O2 à CO2 + 2H2O

1C, 4H 4O 1C, 2O 4H, 2 O

The balanced equation now is

CH4 + 2O2 à CO2 + 2H2O

When an equation is balanced, numbers can only be placed in

front of the formula. Numbers cannot be placed in the middle or
end of a formula.

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 Topic 8 – Formulae & Equations

Exercise:

Balance the following equations:

1. Na + Cl2 à NaCl

2. Mg + O2 à MgO

3. Mg + HCl à MgCl2 + H2

4. CuO + C à Cu + CO2

5. Refer to Classbook 1B page 8.10

State symbols

State symbols are also used in chemical equations. These are symbols
that indicate the state of the chemicals in the reaction. There are 4 state
symbols used.

State Symbol State Symbol

Gas Solid

Liquid Aqueous

Exercise:

Name the physical state of each substance as given in the following

equations.

a) Zn (s) + H2SO4 (aq) à ZnSO4 (aq) + H2(g)

b) CaO (s) + H2O (l) à Ca(OH)2 (aq)

c) 2Mg (s)+ O2 (g) à 2MgO (s)

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