Chemistry Help: Element Symbols & Names

[gigi9]

Chemistry help please!

I took Chem. 2 yrs ago, don't remember much from it. Next yr, I'm planning to take AP Chem. so I have to do Summer HW. I know that H is the symbol of Hydrogen, C is Carbon.Can someone please help me how to figure out how to write element symbol, for example how to write element symbol of hydrocarbon? Or is there a website that can help me remember how to write an element SYMBOL when you know the name of the element and vice versa. Thank you very much.

 

[Another God]

Well, hmmm...same common ones, I am sure you can find around, but a universal name to symbol converter...I doubt such a thing exists. (there are almost an infinite number of possible carbon moleculces out there).

I can tell you the basic (what I remember)
Prefixes = 1C = Meth, 2C = Eth, 3C = Prop, 4C = But, 5C = Pent, 6C = Hex, Hep?, Oct, ...hmmm 9, dunno...
Suffixes = single bond -ane, double bond -ene, triple bond -yne.

So Ethyne is two carbon atoms, connected by a triple bond.
Propene is 3 carbons, with one double bond between two of the carbon atoms...etc

Keeping in mind that each C atom has 4 bonds available, you can then easily figure out how many H atoms can attach...

Is this what you wanted?
(There are tons more naming rules, which I am sure Chemical Super Freak or Boulder Head should be able to help you with. They relate to alcohols, Acetyl groups, Carboxyl groups... methanals, methanols ...all sorts of strange set ups.)

 

[Chemicalsuperfreak]

Umm, hydrocarbons are molecules, not elements. So they don't have a symbol or appear on the periodic table. If you're looking for the general formula for saturated hydrocarbons it's CnH(2n+2). Where n is a non-zero integer.