After reading these notes, test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Chemical Formulae

Instead of writing the element or compound name every time, scientists have symbols for each element, which makes writing about them easier.

Formulae

Formulae

  • The formulae for compounds are written by putting the element symbols together in a line with no gaps between them.
  • Because all compounds are made of elements, this is always the case.
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

  • Carbon dioxide compound is made of carbon and oxygen atoms. The formula is CO2.
  • The little numbers tell you how many of each atom is in a compound.
  • The number is shown just after the element.
  • If there is no number given on the right of an element, then there is just one atom of it.
Water

Water

  • Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen atoms. The formula is H2O.
Magnesium oxide

Magnesium oxide

  • Any metals usually go first, and any oxygens usually go last.
  • The formula of magnesium oxide is:
    • MgO.
Magnesium chloride

Magnesium chloride

  • MgCl2 is the formula for magnesium chloride, which contains magnesium and chlorine atoms.
    • The ‘l’ is a lower case 'L', and not a capital ‘I’. So the compound has magnesium and chlorine, not magnesium, carbon and iodine.
Jump to other topics
1

Biology

1.1

Cells, Tissues & Organs

1.2

Reproduction & Variation

1.3

Ecological Relationships & Classification

1.4

Digestion & Nutrition

1.5

Plants & Photosynthesis

1.6

Biological Systems & Processes

2

Chemistry

2.1

Particles

2.2

Chemical Reactions

2.3

Atoms, Elements, Compounds

2.4

The Periodic Table

2.5

Materials & the Earth

2.6

Reactivity

2.7

Energetics

2.8

Properties of Materials

3

Physics

3.1

Energy

3.2

Forces & Motion

3.3

Waves

3.4

Electricity & Magnetism

3.5

Matter

3.6

Space Physics

4

Disciplinary Knowledge

Practice questions on Chemical Formulae

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
Answer all questions on Chemical Formulae

Unlock your full potential with Seneca Premium

  • Unlimited access to 10,000+ open-ended exam questions

  • Mini-mock exams based on your study history

  • Unlock 800+ premium courses & e-books

Get started with Seneca Premium