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In the chemical formula of Magnesium what does the 2 cslled and what does it tell you?
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
The chemical symbol for a magnesium atom is Mg. If you see a "2" after it as a subscript, that implies that you are looking at the chemical formula for a molecule that contains two magnesium atoms.
But if you see a "2+" written after it as a superscript, that implies that the magnesium is not an atom, but an ion with a relative charge of positive 2.
For example, you may see this:
Mg2+ + 2 HCO3- --> MgCO3 + CO2 + H2O
The "Mg2+" refers to a magnesium ion with a +2 charge.
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
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What three things does a chemical formula tell you?
The type and the number of atoms of each element present.
How do you tell how many elements are in a compound formula?
A chemical formula will always tell you how many of each element is in a particular formula. For example glucose (C6H12O6) contains six carbons, twelve hydrogens and 6 oxygens. All together this is three elements, and 24 atoms. Try water..the chemical formula is H2O. So it contains two hydrogen atoms, and one oxygen atom. This is two elements, but three atoms. I hope this helped!
What information is contained in a chemical equation?
A chemical formula contains information on the types and spatial arrangement of bonds in the chemical.It also tells you what elements are in the chemical, and how many atoms of each. The spatial arrangement is not necessarily very obvious from the formula, e.g. C2H5OH does not tell you much about the spatial arrangement of the bonds.A chemical formula uses symbols and numbers o represent the composition of a pure substance
How can you tell that substance compound by looking at its formula?
Characteristics of a substance are called properties. Substances have chemical properties - how they react with other substances and physical properties - boiling and melting point, colour, solid liquid or gas, smell...
What does a structural formula depict that a molecular formula does not?
Structural formulas show a representation of the molecular structure, while chemical formulas do not. This is especially important when multiple compounds have the same chemical formula, but a different molecular structure.
In the chemical formula for magnesium chloride what is the number 2 called and what does it tell you?
subscript
What does the formula for the compound magnesium chloride MgCl2 tell you about how many chloride ions are needed to cancel out the charge of magnesium?
Two
What happens when magnesium reacts with nitric acid?
Nitric acid is a compound of nitrate and hydrogen (you can tell that the suffix is -ate by the suffix -ic. If it were nitrous acid, it would contain nitrite.) Its chemical formula is HN03
What does a chemical compound formula tell you?
It tells what elements are present in a molecule and how many atoms of each element are present.
What is the difference between a symbol and a formula?
A chemical symbol is just an abbreviation of that chemical's name while a formula will tell you how many of each different element are in a specific chemical compound.
When ice melts why can you tell there is not a chemical change?
Melting is not a chemical change because the chemical formula of water remain unchanged.
How many H atoms are present in a chemical formula?
By looking at an actual chemical formula for a compound, we could tell you how many hydrogen atoms there are per molecule (or at least per formula unit) of that compound.Without the specific chemical formula, we can't. So the question is meaningless ... how many hydrogen atoms are present in a chemical formula depends on what the chemical formula is.
What does the chemical formula for a molecule tell you?
What and how many elements it's composed of
What do chemical formulas tell you the number of?
A chemical formula tells you the number of each type of atom in the molecule or structure.
Does a chemical formula tell you how many atoms of an element are in a unit of a compound?
yes it does
What is the combination of symbols that shows the ratio of elements in a compound?
The ratio is called the chemical formula. Naming these compounds is called nomencalture. Example: NaCl sodium (Na) has a +1 charge and chlorine (Cl) has a -1 charge the charges cancel out and therefore the ratio is one to one Another Example: MgCl2 magnesium (Mg) has a charge of +2 and chlorine (Cl) has a charge of -1. It takes two chlorines to cancel out one magnesium so the ratio is one to two.
The chemical formula of a compound does not indicate?
The chemical formula of a compound does not indicate the way that elements are joined in the compound. Chemical formulas tell you the identity of the elements in the compound and the relative proportions of the elements.
