What is a Compound?
This article attempts to answer the important question, what is a compound. A scientific compound refers to any material whose creation takes place by two or more elements or parts that result in the formation of a new one.
In chemistry, the formation of a compound takes place when two or more chemical elements are chemically bonded together. Students can learn more about the compounds in chemistry and the types of chemical compound here.
Compound in Chemistry
A compound in chemistry refers to a substance which comprises of identical molecules consisting of atoms belonging to two or more chemical elements.
This is what is known as a chemical compound. A chemical compound refers to a chemical substance that is made up of several similar molecules containing elements from multiple elements.
Most noteworthy, the bounding of these molecules takes place by chemical bonds.
A chemical formula gives an indication of the number of atoms of each element existing in a compound molecule. Furthermore, this chemical formula makes use of the standard abbreviations for the chemical elements along with the numerical subscripts.
A good example can be the water molecule whose formula is \(H_{2}O\). This certainly gives an indication of two hydrogen atoms whose bonding is to one oxygen atom.
Types of Chemical Compounds
For efficiently answering the question, what is a compound, one must make mention of the various types of a chemical compound. Above all, there are four types of chemical compounds that exist.
Molecular Compound
First of all, a molecule refers to a neutral group of two or more atoms that are seized together by chemical bonds. Moreover, molecules certainly bind together by covalent bonds.
Furthermore, the separation of the molecules from the ions takes place due to their shortage of electrical charge.
When it comes to biochemistry, quantum organic chemistry, and physics, experts use the word molecule in most cases less severely.
When we talk of the kinetic theory of gases, many use the word molecule for some gaseous particle regardless of the constituent it involves. Under this definition, many consider noble gas molecules as monatomic molecules.
A molecule can certainly be homonuclear in nature. Furthermore, homonuclear means containing atoms of one chemical element only. A good example of a homonuclear molecule can be oxygen (\(O_{2}\)). A molecule can also be heteronuclear which means a compound comprising of more than one element.
Ionic Compound
Ionic compound refers to a chemical compound that consists of ions held together due to ionic bonding. Moreover, ionic bonding refers to certain electrostatic forces.
Furthermore, the ionic compound is completely neutral but consists of positively charged ions called cations and negatively charged ions known as anions.
The ionic compound can be merely ions like in sodium chloride or the polyatomic class like in ammonium carbonate. Experts refer to ionic compounds which comprise of hydrogen ions as acids and those with basic ions hydroxide or oxide as bases.
Intermetallic Compounds
Intermetallic compounds are those compounds which are together by metallic bonds. An intermetallic compound refers to a particular type of metallic alloy which forms a solid-state compound and displays distinct stoichiometry and crystal structure.
Coordinate Compound
Coordinate compounds refer to certain complexes that are held together by the coordinate covalent bonds. Furthermore, a coordination complex happens to be commonly metallic.
Moreover, a coordination complex involves a near array of bound molecules or ions and these molecules or ions are the complexing agents or ligands. Also, many compounds that contain metal are coordination complexes.
Solved Question For You
Q1 Which of the following is not a type of chemical compound?
A. Toxic compound
B. Intermetallic compound
C. Coordinate compound
D. Molecular compound
A1 The correct option is option A. ‘toxic compound’. This is because the toxic compound is not a type of chemical compound.
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