1.1.1

Elements & Compounds

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Elements and Atoms

There are 118 different types of elements that humans have discovered and each one has its own chemical symbol. Atoms are the smallest possible unit of an element. Examples of elements include:

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Oxygen

  • The chemical symbol for oxygen is O.
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Iron

  • The chemical symbol for iron is Fe.
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Cobalt

  • The chemical symbol for cobalt is Co.

Compounds

Atoms of different elements can be combined together to create compounds. Compounds have formulae that are made by combining the chemical symbols of the elements that combine to make them.

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Different compounds

  • Combining different atoms creates different compounds. There are a lot of combinations that can be created.
  • A compound is made up of at least 2 different elements.
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Lego

  • Compounds are a bit like Lego.
    • Different combinations of bricks result in different models.
    • Similarly, different combinations of atoms result in different compounds.
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E.g. sodium oxide

  • Combining sodium (Na) atoms and oxygen (O) atoms gives sodium oxide.
  • We can represent this compound by combining the chemical symbols of the 2 elements (Na and O) to create the chemical formula Na2O.

Jump to other topics

1Atomic Structure

2Chemical Bonding

3Quantitative Chemistry

4Chemical Changes

5Energy Changes

6The Rate & Extent of Chemical Change

7Organic Chemistry

8Chemical Analysis

9Chemistry of the Atmosphere

10Using Resources

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