Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Atoms can attach to one or more other atoms by chemical bonds to form chemical compounds such as molecules or crystals. The ability of atoms to attach and detach from each other is responsible for most of the physical changes observed in nature. Chemistry is the science that studies these changes.
Theories of chemical structure were first developed by August Kekulé, Archibald Scott Couper, and Aleksandr Butlerov, among others, from about 1858. [4] These theories were first to state that chemical compounds are not a random cluster of atoms and functional groups, but rather had a definite order defined by the valency of the atoms composing the molecule, giving the molecules a three ...
Hydrogen atoms attached to atoms other than carbon must be written explicitly. An additional feature of skeletal formulas is that by adding certain structures the stereochemistry, that is the three-dimensional structure, of the compound can be determined. Often times, the skeletal formula can indicate stereochemistry through the use of wedges ...
The chemical element of each atom is often indicated by the sphere's color. [2] In a ball-and-stick model, the radius of the spheres is usually much smaller than the rod lengths, in order to provide a clearer view of the atoms and bonds throughout the model.
Cations and anions are also typically discrete and can be depicted unambiguously. For simple structures, say <10 atoms, it is helpful to depict all atoms explicitly. For more complex molecules, most hydrogen atoms attached to carbon are omitted, and carbon atoms are represented by vertices. For ease of readability, sans-serif fonts are ...
The atoms in molecules, crystals, metals and other forms of matter are held together by chemical bonds, which determine the structure and properties of matter. All bonds can be described by quantum theory, but, in practice, simplified rules and other theories allow chemists to predict the strength, directionality, and polarity of bonds. [4]
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. [1] It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties, behavior and the changes they undergo during reactions with other substances.
A pure substance is composed of molecules with the same average geometrical structure. The chemical formula and the structure of a molecule are the two important factors that determine its properties, particularly its reactivity. Isomers share a chemical formula but normally have very different properties because of their different structures.