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.
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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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