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Types of Chemical Formulas
- An empirical formula gives the relative number of atoms of each element in a compound.
- A molecular formula gives the actual number of atoms of each element in a molecule of the compound.
- For example, the molecular formula for hydrogen peroxide is H2O2, and its empirical formula is HO.
- The molecular formula is always a whole-number multiple of the empirical formula.
- For many compounds, such as H2O, the molecular formula is the same as the empirical formula.
- A structural formula uses lines to represent chemical bonds and shows how the atoms in a molecule are connected to each other.