Chemical formula A representation

Chemical formula a representation of a molecule in which the symbols for the elements are used to indicate the types of atoms present and subscripts are used to show the relative numbers of atoms. 

Chemical equation a representation of a chemical reaction using the formulas of the starting substances that react and the new substances that are formed. 

The symbolic representation of the particles of a pure substance is its chemical formula. A formula is a combination of the symbols of all the elements in the substance. The formula of most elements is the same as the symbol of the element. This indicates that the element is stable as a single atom. Helium (He), sodium (Na), and barium (Ba) are examples. Other elements exist in nature as stable, distinct, and independent molecules, which are made up of two or more atoms. Hydrogen, oxygen, and chlorine are three such elements. Their symbols are H, O, and Cl, respectively, but their formulas are H2, O2, and CI2. The subscript 2 indicates in each case that a molecule of the element has two atoms. Figure 2.18 shows all of these elements. 

A molecular compound is made up of discrete units called molecules, which typically consist of a small number of nonmetal atoms held together by covalent bonds. Molecular compounds are represented by chemical formulas, symbolic representations that, at minimum, indicate... 

Two-Dimensional Representation of Chemical Structures. The lUPAC standardization of organic nomenclature allows automatic translation of a chemical s name into its chemical stmcture, or, conversely, the naming of a compound based on its stmcture. The chemical formula for a compound can be translated into its stmcture once a set of semantic rules for representation are estabUshed (26). The semantic rules and their appHcation have been described (27,28). The inverse problem, generating correct names from chemical stmctures, has been addressed (28) and explored for the specific case of naming condensed benzenoid hydrocarbons (29,30). 

An important approach to the graphic representation of molecules is the use of a connection table. A connection table is a data base that stores the available bond types and hybridizations for individual atoms. Using the chemical formula and the connection table, molecular stmctures may be generated through interactive graphics in a menu-driven environment (31—33) or by using a linear input of code words (34,35). The connection table approach may be carried to the next step, computer-aided molecular design (CAMD) (36). 

A model is one of the main outcomes of ary scientific enquiry and hence is a major contributor to philosophy of science. A model may be defined as a simplified representation of a phenomenon (an object, system, event, process) or idea produced for the specific purpose of providing an explanation of that entity, the most important outcomes of which are the production of successful predictions of how it will behave under a range of circumstances (Gilbert, Boulter, Elmer, 2000). Entities can be modelled at the three levels at the macroscopic, by representing some of the aspects of the entity that can be seen at the sub-microscopic, by representing the ideas produced to explain the constitution and behaviour of the particles that constitute the entity and at the symbolic, by representing the symbols created to simplify the reference to such particles (as, for instance, chemical formulae and chemical equations). 

In the usual chemical formulas written for chain polymers the sue-cessive units are projected as a co-linear sequence on the surface of the sheet of paper. This form of representation fails to convey what is perhaps the most significant structural characteristic of a long polymer chain, namely, its capacity to assume an enormous array of configurations. This configurational versatility is a consequence of the considerable degree of rotational freedom about single bonds of the chain. In the simple polymethylene chain, for example, the conventional formula... 

A single unstable compound of known composition is placed in the main first volume and is located on the basis of its empirical molecular formula expressed in the Hill system used by Chemical Abstracts (C and H if present, then all other element symbols alphabetically). The use of this indexing basis permits a compound to be located if its structure can be drawn, irrespective of whether a valid name is known for it. A representation of the structure of each compound is given on the third bold title line while the name of the compound appears as the first bold title line. References to the information source are given, followed by a statement of the observed hazard, with any relevant explanation. Cross-reference to similar compounds, often in a group entry, completes the entry. See Trifluoroacetyl nitrite p. 244. 

In comparison with chemical formulae of low-molecular-weight compounds, the graphical representations of which have been addressed in a recent lUPAC document [7], chemical formulae of polymers must additionally reflect the multiplicity of constitutional units in a macromolecule and the various possibilities for connecting the constitutional units in a macromolecule. 

Tins symbols employed in chemical formula to-day are, with a few alterations and additions, those used by Berzelius. The formula of simple compounds were represented by writing the symbols of the elements contained in the compound side by side, and this simple representation served for some time. The formulae used, however, did not denote the proportion of the atoms of one kind to that of another kind, and numerals were therefore introduced to denote the number of each kind of atoms in the molecule. This arose naturally when it was found that more than one compound might contain the same elements, and that the different properties of the compounds were due to the proportion of the elements present in the molecule as, for example, the two compounds of carbon and oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. 

Figure 3.11—Separation on a cyclodextrin-boimd stationary phase. Chromatogram of a racemic mixture chemical formula of /f-cyclodextrin (diameter, 1.5 nm cavity, 0.8 nm height, 0.8 nm) partial representation of cyclodextrin bonded to a silica gel bead through an alkyl chain linker arm side view of a cyclodextrin molecule with a hydrophobic cavity.

---