Molecules

Molecules are particles consisting of 2 or more atoms.

• water  H2O
• carbon dioxide CO2 ,
• methane CH4

Several elements consist of two or more atoms :

• oxygen O2
• nitrogen N2
• chlorine Cl2

Sulfur consists of 8 atoms S8 , ozone O3 of 3 oxygen Atoms

Instead of  the molecular Formula, having the structural formula recognizes the arrangement of atoms in two dimensions.

			H
			I
Methane CH4	H	–	C	–	H
			I
			H
		/	O	\
Water H2O		/		\
	H				H
			__
			N
Ammonia NH3		/	|	\
	H		H		H
			H		H
			|		|
Ethan C2H6	H	–	C	–	C	–	H
			|		|
			H		H

However still you don’t know about the spatial Arrangement.

Have a look at ethan, how would it look like in three-dimensional?

It’s the ecliptic conformation of ethan.

Have a look at two other structural formulas, this time a bit more complicate ones:

 

 

 

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