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Main article: Chemical element
A chemical element is a pure substance which is composed of a
single type of atom, characterized by its particular number
of protons in the nuclei of its atoms, known as the atomic number and
represented by the symbol Z. The mass number is the sum of the
number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus. Although all the nuclei
of all atoms belonging to one element will have the same atomic
number, they may not necessarily have the same mass number;
atoms of an element which have different mass numbers are known
as isotopes. For example, all atoms with 6 protons in their nuclei are
atoms of the chemical element carbon, but atoms of carbon may have
mass numbers of 12 or 13.[20]
The standard presentation of the chemical elements is in the periodic
table, which orders elements by atomic number. The periodic table is
arranged in groups, or columns, and periods, or rows. The periodic
table is useful in identifying periodic trends.[21]
Compound
Carbon dioxide (CO2), an example of a chemical compound
Main article: Chemical compound
A compound is a pure chemical substance composed of more than
one element. The properties of a compound bear little similarity to
those of its elements.[22] The standard nomenclature of compounds is
set by the International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry (IUPAC). Organic compounds are named according to
the organic nomenclature system.[23] The names for inorganic
compounds are created according to the inorganic
nomenclature system. When a compound has more than one
component, then they are divided into two classes, the electropositive
and the electronegative components.[24] In addition the Chemical
Abstracts Service has devised a method to index chemical
substances. In this scheme each chemical substance is identifiable by
a number known as its CAS registry number.
Molecule
Main article: Molecule
A ball-and-stick representation of the caffeine molecule
(C8H10N4O2)
A molecule is the smallest indivisible portion of a pure chemical
substance that has its unique set of chemical properties, that is, its
potential to undergo a certain set of chemical reactions with other
substances. However, this definition only works well for substances
that are composed of molecules, which is not true of many substances
(see below). Molecules are typically a set of atoms bound together
by covalent bonds, such that the structure is electrically neutral and all
valence electrons are paired with other electrons either in bonds or
in lone pairs.
Thus, molecules exist as electrically neutral units, unlike ions. When
this rule is broken, giving the "molecule" a charge, the result is
sometimes named a molecular ion or a polyatomic ion. However, the
discrete and separate nature of the molecular concept usually requires
that molecular ions be present only in well-separated form, such as a
directed beam in a vacuum in a mass spectrometer. Charged
polyatomic collections residing in solids (for example, common sulfate
or nitrate ions) are generally not considered "molecules" in chemistry.
Some molecules contain one or more unpaired electrons,
creating radicals. Most radicals are comparatively reactive, but some,
such as nitric oxide (NO) can be stable.
A 2-D structural formula of a benzene molecule (C6H6)
The "inert" or noble gas
elements (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon) are
composed of lone atoms as their smallest discrete unit, but the other
isolated chemical elements consist of either molecules or networks of
atoms bonded to each other in some way. Identifiable molecules
compose familiar substances such as water, air, and many organic
compounds like alcohol, sugar, gasoline, and the
various pharmaceuticals.
However, not all substances or chemical compounds consist of
discrete molecules, and indeed most of the solid substances that
make up the solid crust, mantle, and core of the Earth are chemical
compounds without molecules. These other types of substances, such
as ionic compounds and network solids, are organized in such a way
as to lack the existence of identifiable molecules per se. Instead,
these substances are discussed in terms of formula units or unit
cells as the smallest repeating structure within the substance.
Examples of such substances are mineral salts (such as table salt),
solids like carbon and diamond, metals, and familiar silica and silicate
minerals such as quartz and granite.
One of the main characteristics of a molecule is its geometry often
called its structure. While the structure of diatomic, triatomic or tetra-
atomic molecules may be trivial, (linear, angular pyramidal etc.) the
structure of polyatomic molecules, that are constituted of more than
six atoms (of several elements) can be crucial for its chemical nature.
