Question

What is the significance of the formula of a substance ?

Answer 1

The significance of the chemical formula of any substance is as follows:

• A chemical formula of a substance (element or compound) represents its name.
• A chemical formula provides important information on the chemical makeup of any substance (element or compound). It names all the elements present in the molecule.
• A chemical formula also provides important information on the number of atoms of each constituent element of the molecule of the substance.
• A chemical formula represents one mole of molecules of the substance (element or compound), which is 6.022 × 10²³ molecules of the substance.
• Since, a chemical formula represents one mole of molecules of a substance, it also represents the definite mass of that substance, which is expressed as gram molecular mass.