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Chivalry Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary
Chemical formulas
What are the formulas like CH4, CH3(CH2)16CO2H called? I mean the specific term that you use to refer to all of those colossal alphabetic chains?(Like "structural formulas" for the spider web-like graphs)
And what are those names like methane, stearic acid and so called?
And, something off-topic, do chemistry/chemistry-related majors really have to memorize those chemical compounds by their lengthy names as well as by their better-known names(
And what are those names like methane, stearic acid and so called?
And, something off-topic, do chemistry/chemistry-related majors really have to memorize those chemical compounds by their lengthy names as well as by their better-known names(
Top answer
CH 4 , CO 2 , HCOOH, H 2 SO 4 , etc. are just called "chemical formulas". There is no special word for chemical names - some of them are called "trivial names" if they don't follow the accepted nomenclature (usually IUPAC), and I suppose you could call others "common names" - like isopropanol for propan-2-ol - but as far as I know there is no widely used term for them.
- CH 4 , CO 2 , HCOOH, H 2 SO 4 , etc.
- are just called "chemical formulas".
- There is no special word for chemical names - some of them are called "trivial names" if they don't follow the accepted nomenclature (usually IUPAC), and I suppose you could call others "common names" - like isopropanol for propan-2-ol - but as far as I know there is no widely used term for them.
- Chemists and chemistry students aren't necessarily expected to memorize the names (IUPAC or otherwise) of most compounds (though they will naturally memorize the most common), but they generally are expected to be able to generate an (IUPAC) name from a structural formula and vice-versa because the whole point of IUPAC nomenclature is to encode all necessary information about a molecule's structure.
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3 Answers
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CH4, CO2, HCOOH, H2SO4, etc. are just called "chemical formulas".
There is no special word for chemical names - some of them are called "trivial names" if they don't follow the accepted nomenclature (usually IUPAC), and I suppose you could call others "common names" - like isopropanol for propan-2-ol - but as far as I know there is no widely use
There is no special word for chemical names - some of them are called "trivial names" if they don't follow the accepted nomenclature (usually IUPAC), and I suppose you could call others "common names" - like isopropanol for propan-2-ol - but as far as I know there is no widely use
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I think the term organic compounds is still in use for the long chains you mention. I don't know how you're categorising methane and stearic acid.
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