High School Chemistry : High School Chemistry

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Chemistry

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Example Questions

Example Question #41 : Elements And Compounds

What is the difference between chlorine-35 and chlorine-37?

Possible Answers:

Chlorine-37 has more neutrons

Chlorine-37 has more electrons

They are identical. They are just different different atoms in the same sample

Chlorine-37 has a smaller atomic mass

Chlorine-37 has more protons

Correct answer:

Chlorine-37 has more neutrons

Explanation:

Chlorine-35 and chlorine-37 are isotopes of each other. Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have different masses due to different numbers of neutrons.

Example Question #42 : Elements And Compounds

An atom of iron has two electrons removed. Write out the ion in the form of  where X is the atomic symbol and m is the charge. Identify this ion as either a cation, anion or neutral.

Possible Answers:

Cation

Anion

Anion

Neutral

Correct answer:

Cation

Explanation:

We know that the element is iron and that it is missing two electrons. This means that the atom has two less electrons than it has protons resulting in a charge of 2+. This can be written as

If an ion is positively charged it is a cation.  If it is negatively charged (more electrons than protons) it is an anion.

The ion is a cation since it has a charge of 2+.

Example Question #1 : Naming Compounds

Which answer choice shows the correct chemical formula for barium sulfate?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We should first remember the difference between sulfate, sulfite, and sulfide. Sulfate is , sulfite is ` and sulfide is .

The only answer choices that could be right must have  in them. We then need to see that barium usually has a charge of , as the periodic table shows us, and so we need a charge of  to cancel that out. The answer is .

Example Question #1 : Naming Compounds

Which of the following chemical compounds is written incorrectly?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Ionic chemical compounds are always named with the metal before the non-metal. The correct way to name sodium chloride would be , and not , because sodium is the metal and chloride is the non-metal.

All the other examples have the metal before the non-metal. The other answer choices correspond to potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate, hydrogen chloride (hydrochloric acid), and calcium fluoride.

Example Question #2 : Naming Compounds

Name the following compound:

Possible Answers:

Iron(II) oxide

Iron oxide

Iron trioxide

Iron(III) oxide

Correct answer:

Iron(III) oxide

Explanation:

Because iron has multiple oxidation states, we need to follow the cation with the roman numeral that signifies how many electrons each iron ion has donated to oxygen. Since oxygen gains two electrons in order to satisfy its octet, the three oxygens will accept a total of six electrons from two iron atoms. This means that each iron must donate three electrons, so that each atom donates electrons equally. As a result, the name of the ionic compound is iron(III) oxide.

Another acceptable name for the compound would be ferric oxide. The term "ferric" refers to iron(III) and the term "ferrous" refers to iron (II).

Example Question #3 : Naming Compounds

Name the following compound:

Possible Answers:

Monophosphorus pentafluoride

Phosphorus pentafluoride

Phosphorus fluoride

Phosphorus tetrafluoride

Correct answer:

Phosphorus pentafluoride

Explanation:

When naming covalent compounds, it is important to use a prefix before each element in order to designate how many atoms are in the compound. One key exception is when you only have one atom at the beginning of the compound (such as in this question). You will never start a covalent compound with "mono-". The prefix for five is "penta-", so the name of this covalent compound is phosphorus pentafluoride. The name indicates that there is one phosphorus atom bound to five fluorine atoms.

Example Question #4 : Naming Compounds

Which of the following molecular formulas is written incorrectly?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When naming molecular compounds, the rule is to put the element farthest to the left of the period table and closest to the bottom of the periodic table first. 

For example, in sulfur dioxide, since sulfur and oxygen are both in group 6A, we put sulfur first since it is below oxygen in the group: . Similarly, in carbon dioxide we put carbon first because it is farther to the left in the period: .

is written incorrectly because nitrogen is farther left on the periodic table than chlorine. Written correctly, this compound would be dinitrogen dichloride: .

Example Question #2 : Naming Compounds

Choose the correct name for the following compound.

Possible Answers:

Diasulfur diachloride

Sulfur chlorate

Sulfur dichloride 

Sulfur chloride

Disulfur dichloride 

Correct answer:

Disulfur dichloride 

Explanation:

 The molecule is a molecular compound because it contains two non-metals; therefore, it contains no ionic bonds. We use prefixes to describe the subscript for each element in molecular compounds. The molecule in this question has a subscript of two for each of the elements, so the prefix di- should be added to both sulfur and chlorine.

For molecular compounds, we change the ending of the final element to -ide, giving us the name "disulfur dichloride."

It is important to note that "chlorate" has a separate meaning, and refers to the complex ion .

Example Question #3 : Naming Compounds

Choose the formula that corresponds to sodium oxide.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We know that sodium oxide is a binary ionic compound because it contains one metal cation and one non-metal anion. To write the ionic formula we must write the cation first, followed by the anion, and make sure the net charge of the molecule is zero.

From the periodic table, we know that sodium (Na) has a charge of  and oxygen (O) has a charge of . We know that the final charge on the molecule must be zero. To balance the charge, there must be two sodium atoms for every oxygen atom.

The other answer choices do not have a net charge of zero.

 

 

 

 

 

Example Question #133 : High School Chemistry

Which of the following ionic compounds is written incorrectly?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Ionic compounds are written with the cation (metal) first, followed by the anion (non-metal). All of the answer choices satisfy this requirement.

Next, we must look at the net charge on each molecule. All of the ionic compounds have a net charge of zero except for , which has a charge of  as written.

The correct ionic formula for a compound containing these two elements is:

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