How Do I Understand Compound Names and Formulas Using the Periodic Table?

[sanketm182]

i need help understanding compound names and formulas and charges of ions using periodic table

 

[pr0blumz]

Maybe you should post in the Chemistry section.

 

[berkeman]

i need help understanding compound names and formulas and charges of ions using periodic table

Thread moved to Chemistry. Welcome to the PF, sanketm182. What can you tell us about the subject? What courses are you taking now? What kind of introduction to the Periodic Table have you had so far?

 

[WannabChemist]

Perhaps someone could help me out with questions I have relating to this.

How do you determine which chemical takes precedence over others?

For exampe: if there was a mixture of bicarbonate and chlorine and I added sodium, would I have sodium bicarbonate or sodium chloride?

H + Cl + F = HCl + F or HF + Cl?

I hope what I'm asking is clear.

 

[espen180]

As for the sodium question, if the solution reaches saturation, the salt which is least soluble will form.

As for the H,Cl,F question, HCl is a super strong acid and will dissolve completely. HF is a weak acid and will more likely form, but in both cases you are dealing with equilibrium reactions, so the molecules will likely dissolve shortly after forming.

 

[WannabChemist]

Thank you for your reply, but what I'm looking for are general rules to follow (as opposed to specific), perhaps using the periodic table?

An example of a rule (I just made this up off the top of my head): "The molecule with the least electrons will form a compound"

If it were true then flourine would have less electrons so it would make H + F + Cl = HF + Cl.

Obviously I'm just using that rule as an example, but is there some set precedure to working all this out?

Perhaps even a topic reference so I can look it up...

Thanks

 

[espen180]

There are laws which govern reactions, but Chemistry is a lot of casework. You really need to know stuff about the spesific molecules/atoms involved. For example, you might think that H⁺ and HSO₄^- in solution will combine to form H₂SO₄, but in reality very few of protons will do this. The eason is that the equilibrium reaction

$$H_2SO_4(aq)\Longleftrightarrow H^+(aq)+HSO_4^-(aq)\Longleftrightarrow 2H^+(aq) + SO_4^{2-}$$

is strongly weighed to the right (H₂SO₄ is also a super strong acid).

You really need a table of K_sp, K_a and E₀ values to get anywhere with unorganic reactions.

A good place to start is the Wikipedia article on Chemical rections, which lists many reaction types: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_reaction

 

[WannabChemist]

Thank you for your help, i'll check out and hopefully I can learn some stuff from it.