Essay On Chemical Compounds

Chemical compound, any substance composed of identical molecules consisting of atoms of two or more chemical elements.

All the matter in the universe is composed of the atoms of more than 100 different chemical elements, which are found both in pure form and combined in chemical compounds. A sample of any given pure element is composed only of the atoms characteristic of that element, and the atoms of each element are unique. For example, the atoms that constitute carbon are different from those that make up iron, which are in turn different from those of gold. Every element is designated by a unique symbol consisting of one, two, or three letters arising from either the current element name or its original (often Latin) name. For example, the symbols for carbon ,hydrogen, and oxygen are simply C, H, and O, respectively. The symbol for iron is Fe, from its original Latin name ferrum. The fundamental principle of the science of chemistry is that the atoms of different elements can combine with one another to form chemical compounds. Methane, for example, which is formed from the elements carbon and hydrogen in the ratio four hydrogen atoms for each carbon atom, is known to contain distinct CH4 molecules. The formula of a

Sodium chloride is a chemical compound formed from sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) in a 1:1 ratio. Although the formula for sodium chloride is NaCl, the compound does not contain actual NaCl molecules. Rather, it contains equal numbers of sodium ions with a charge of positive one (Na+) and chloride ions with a charge of negative one (Cl−).The substances mentioned above exemplify the two basic types of chemical compounds: molecular (covalent) and ionic. Methane and waterare composed of molecules; that is, they are molecular compounds. Sodium chloride, on the other hand, contains ions; it is an ionic