What is a structural formula?
The structural pattern of the chemical compound is a visual representation that shows how the atoms in this compound are connected together. It is often more useful than a molecular formula that indicates atoms and their quantities, but not their arrangement in space. For example, the Molecular H2O water formula shows that there are two hydrogen atoms (H) and one oxygen atom (O) in the molecule, but do not show how they are arranged or connected. There are several different types of structural formulas, including an electron dot diagram, a structural line formula, a condensed structural formula and a skeletal structural formula. They can also form a double binding in which four electrons are shared instead of two. In some cases, all electrons are not shared between atoms in the compound. Such free pairs of electrons are called lonely pairs. The structural formula of the chemical compound visually represents each of these different components through a system of dots or lines.
In the electron dots diagram, all external or valence electrons are available for binding represented by dots around the chemical symbol of the atom. The oxygen atom has six electrons in its valence shell, so it would be represented by six dots - two at the top and bottom and one on each side. When oxygen bonds with two hydrogen molecules to form water, hydrogen electrons are shared in covalent bonds. Since each hydrogen has one valence electron, the new diagram of the electron dots seems to be central with eight dots, two on each of the four sides and h left and right, which means that these atoms are covalently connected.
The structural formula of the line replaces the covalent bonds with direct lines and the double bonds of the settar line. The formula of the water line would appear as H-O-H, with lonely pairs of electrons represented by dots, two higher and two under O. TeThe type of formula is also called Lewis's structure. Sometimes lonely pairs are omitted from a line of line bonds for comfort.
condensed structural formulas are useful for complicated molecules that would take up too much space if all bonds were displayed. In this type of formulas, some atoms are grouped together and only basic links are drawn. Since atoms are connected in predictable ways on the basis of their valence electrons, certain bonds may be omitted when describing the molecule structure.
The skeletal formula is a step further and omits all carbon and hydrogen atoms, which shows only the chemical symbols of other groups of connected lines with the structure of the winding line. This type of formula is often advantageous in organic chemistry, where molecules containing recurrent chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms are common. In the skeletal formula, each carbon is represented by an angle in the line. If two lines branch from this angle, it is assumed that two hydrogen atoms are withbound with carbon. The empty end of the line indicates the carbon associated with three hydrogen atoms.