Chemistry literature. What is unique? Symbols, formulae, and equations.
All elements in the periodic are represented by a single alphabet or two alphabets. The first letter is Capitalised and the second is always lowercase. Example Magnesium-Mg
Example C is an element of Carbon
Compounds: Elements chemically react to form a compound -CO2
Chemical equations are unique to the language of chemistry.
In a chemical change, new substances are formed. In order for this to occur, the chemical bonds of the substances break, and the atoms that compose them separate and rearrange themselves into new substances with new chemical bonds. When this process occurs, we call it a chemical reaction. A chemical reaction is the process in which one or more substances are changed into one or more new substances.
To describe a chemical reaction, we need to indicate what substances are present at the beginning and what substances are present at the end. The substances that are present at the beginning are called reactants and the substances present at the end are called products.
Symbols used in Chemical equations
There are a few special symbols that we need to know in order to "talk" in chemical shorthand. The table below is a summary of the major symbols used in chemical equations. Table 7.3.17.3.1 shows a listing of symbols used in chemical equations.
| Symbol | Description | Symbol | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| + | used to separate multiple reactants or products | (s) | reactant or product in the solid state |
| → | yield sign; separates reactants from products | (l) | reactant or product in the liquid state |
| ⇌ | replaces the yield sign for reversible reactions that reach equilibrium | (g) | reactant or product in the gas state |
| →Pt | formula written above the arrow is used as a catalyst in the reaction | (aq) | reactant or product in an aqueous solution (dissolved in water) |
| →Δ | triangle indicates that the reaction is being heated |
Some Definitions
Mole OR Mol
The mole is the amount of substance of a system that contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilograms of carbon 12; its symbol is “mol”.
Carmen J. Giunta
Journal of Chemical Education 2015 92 (10), 1593-1597
DOI: 10.1021/ed5007376Molarity : Molarity is a unit of concentration expressed as the number of moles of dissolved solute per liter of solution
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/molarity
Molality
a measurement of the number of moles of a substance in 1000 grams of solvent
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/molality
