Compound : Definition

A compound is a chemical substance Glossary A chemical is any substance that is composed of one or more atoms of an element or of a compound consisting of different elements. The term chemical is used to refer to a ... in some measurable quantity of mass in which its material is comprised of the same molecules. The different atoms of one molecule in their fixed ratios (stoichiometry) is repeated for all other molecules of the compound. This means that nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) are two different compounds. That is, although their molecules are composed of the same two elements Glossary An element is a chemical substance in which atoms form a unique species of one type of atom and cannot be further broken down into simpler chemicals by physical separation ..., the ratios of the elements are different (NO₂ ratio N:O = 1:2, N₂O ratio N:O = 2:1). This stoichiometry affirms that all molecules of the same compound have the same molecular formula, unique to this compound.

The molecules are formed by the chemical bonding Glossary A chemical bond is the force that exists between two atoms of a molecule that binds the two atoms together. An atom may bond to one or more atoms in the molecular...
 of atoms of two or more different elements. Thus, a collection of carbon dioxide (CO₂) molecules in some quantity is a compound, whereas that of hydrogen (H₂) molecules is not. Quite clearly then, that not all molecules can be compounds. Different compounds can also be further derived from structural isomers (also called constitutional isomers) or stereoisomers.

Published on: 30 Dec 2017 at 2215.
Last updated: 31 Dec 2017 at 1557.