Chemical bonds form when electrons can be simultaneously close to two or more nuclei, but beyond this, there is no simple, easily understood theory that would not only explain why atoms bind together to form molecules, but would also predict the three-dimensional structures of the resulting compounds as well as the energies and other properties of the bonds themselves.
A chemical formula is a format used to express the structure of atoms. The formula tells which elements and how many of each element are present in a compound. Formulas are written using the elemental symbol of each atom and a subscript to denote the number of elements. The most common elements present in organic compounds are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen .
Metals (particularly those in groups 1 and 2) tend to lose the number of electrons that would leave them with the same number of electrons as in the preceding noble gas in the periodic table. By this means, a positively charged ion is formed. Similarly, nonmetals (especially those in groups 16 and 17, and, to a lesser extent, those in Group 15) can gain the number of electrons needed to provide atoms with the same number of electrons as in the next noble gas in the periodic table.
Chemists use nomenclature rules to clearly name compounds. Ionic and molecular compounds are named using somewhat-different methods. Binary ionic compounds typically consist of a metal and a nonmetal. The name of the metal is written first, followed by the name of the nonmetal with its ending changed to –ide. For example, K2O is called potassium oxide. If the metal can form ions with different charges, a Roman numeral in parentheses follows the name of the metal to specify its charge.
Molecular compounds can form compounds with different ratios of their elements, so prefixes are used to specify the numbers of atoms of each element in a molecule of the compound. Examples include SF6, sulfur hexafluoride, and N2O4, dinitrogen tetroxide. Acids are an important class of compounds containing hydrogen and having special nomenclature rules. Binary acids are named using the prefix hydro-, changing the –ide suffix to –ic, and adding “acid;” HCl is hydrochloric acid.
Chemical nomenclature is the names we use for chemicals. For instance, H2O is called "water", and CH4 (the gas you burn in a stove) is called "methane." You should learn the chemical nomenclature here on this page now, so that you will be able to understand when it is used.
Molecular formulas tell you how many atoms of each element are in a compound, and empirical formulas tell you the simplest or most reduced ratio of elements in a compound. If a compound's molecular formula cannot be reduced any more, then the empirical formula is the same as the molecular formula. Combustion analysis can determine the empirical formula of a compound, but cannot determine the molecular formula (other techniques can though).
A chemical reaction is described by a chemical equation that gives the identities and quantities of the reactants and the products. In a chemical reaction, one or more substances are transformed to new substances. A chemical reaction is described by a chemical equation, an expression that gives the identities and quantities of the substances involved in a reaction. A chemical equation shows the starting compound(s)—the reactants—on the left and the final compound(s)—the products—on the right.
Organic chemistry is the study of carbon compounds, nearly all of which also contain hydrogen atoms.