MOLECULES

Molecule,smallestunitofasubstance that shows all

the chemical properties of that substance. A molecule
is a group of atoms that are bound tightly together by
strong chemical bonds called covalent bonds. Every
molecule has a definite size. If a molecule is broken
up into its atoms or into smaller groups of atoms by
chemical processes, these pieces will not behave like
the original molecule. A molecule can contain atoms
of the same element or atoms of different elements. A
substance made up of molecules that include two or
more different chemical elements is called a
molecular compound. An example of a molecular
compound is water. Water is made of molecules that
contain two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.

MOLECULES
ManysubstancesonEarth are made of molecules.
Millions of molecules join together to make up the
cells in humans or in any other plant or animal. The
food we eat, the air we breathe, the clothes we wear,
and the wood, paint, and carpeting that we use in
homes are all made of molecules. Millions of different
molecules exist in nature or can be made by chemists.
The nature of each molecule depends on the atoms
that it contains and how they link to each other. For
example, the oxygen that animals require is made of
molecules that have two oxygen atoms bound
together. If one oxygen atom binds to a carbon atom,
the molecule is instead the poisonous gas carbon
monoxide.

MOLECULES
Scientistsstudymolecules and their structures so they can
better understand why substances behave the way they do. For
example, molecular structure helps explain why water boils at a
high temperature. Scientists and manufacturers also use their
knowledge of molecules and molecular structures to make
substances with desirable properties. Plastics, for instance, are
laboratory-made substances that consist of enormous molecules
containing thousands of atoms. By manipulating the molecular
structure of plastics, chemists have created materials that
stretch better, resist fading, or can be used in microwave ovens
without melting. Similarly, pharmaceutical chemists use their
knowledge of molecular structure to develop new drugs that
more effectively ease pain or fight disease. The discovery of the
structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the molecule that
contains the genetic blueprint for living organisms, opened the
door to tremendous advances in medicine and industry.
Knowledge of the structure of DNA has enabled physicians to
understand and treat certain genetic diseases. Moreover, by

MOLECULE
S

Althoughmuchofourworld is composed of
molecules, not all substances are molecular. As
we will discuss later, metals do not consist of
molecules; nor do ionic compounds, which are
crystalline substances such as common table
salt. The atoms in metals and ionic compounds
form different arrangements from those of
molecular structures.

MOLECULAR
FORMULA
Molecularformulasare a shorthand way of
describing molecules and compounds. Chemists
use formulas to talk and write about molecules
and to indicate how molecules behave in
chemical reactions. The molecular formula
indicates, in special notation, which elements
make up the molecule and how many atoms are
needed of each element. Understanding these
formulas is the first step toward understanding
the language of chemistry.

MOLECULAR
FORMULA
Scientistsuseshorthand symbols for the elements in
molecular formulas. These symbols can be found in the
periodic table, a chart that arranges the elements
according to their chemical properties (see Periodic Law).
For example, H stands for hydrogen, C for carbon, and O
for oxygen. To indicate a molecule, chemists write the
number of atoms of each element in subscript to the right
of the symbol. A water molecule, for example, contains
two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, and its
formula is written as H2O. A molecule of the compound
ethane contains two carbon atoms and six hydrogen
atoms, giving the molecular formula C2H6. A molecule of
butane, C4H10, contains four carbon atoms and ten
hydrogen atoms. The molecular formula of a compound is

MOLECULAR
FORMULA
Theempiricalformula of a molecule is a simpler formula
than the molecular formula. It is useful when scientists
know only the ratio of atoms in a compound, for example,
after performing a chemical analysis that reveals the weight
of each element in the compound. The empirical formula
looks similar to the molecular formula, but the subscripts
only include information on the ratios of the elements with
respect to each other and not on the actual number of
atoms. For example, ethanes molecular formula is C 2H6,
which shows that the ratio of carbon atoms to hydrogen
atoms is 1 to 3, so its empirical formula is CH3. An unknown
sample with the empirical formula CH3 may be ethane, but
it cannot be butane, which has an empirical formula of C 2H5.
Waters molecular formula is the same as its empirical

MOLECULAR
FORMULA
Thestructuralformula of a molecule provides
even more information than does the molecular
formula. It shows which groups of atoms bond to
each other in a molecule. Structural formulas help
differentiate between isomers, molecules that
have the same molecular formula but different
structures. For example, C5H12 may represent the
substance pentane, with the structural formula
CH3-CH2-CH2-CH2-CH3, or it may represent
isopentane (also called 2-methyl pentane), with
the structural formula CH3-CH2-CHCH3-CH3.

SIZES AND
SHAPES
Moleculescomeinmany sizes and shapes. They
range in size and complexity from the tiny,
diatomic molecules (of which the hydrogen
molecule is the smallest) to enormous molecules
with thousands and thousands of atoms, such as
DNA and plastics molecules. The size and shape
of a molecule depends on the number of atoms it
contains and how the atoms are arranged. For
large molecules, the shape also depends on the
flexibility of the molecule. Long chains of atoms
can coil up into a variety of shapes.

SIZES AND
SHAPES
Thesizeandshapeof
the
molecules
in
a
substance determine many properties of the
substance. For example, small molecules tend to
separate from each other more easily than larger
molecules do, unless other attractive forces are
involved. This means that substances made of
small molecules usually boil or evaporate into
gases at lower temperatures than do substances
made of similar, larger molecules. Air is a gas that
mainly contains small molecules of nitrogen and
oxygen. These molecules boil at extremely low
temperatures.

SIZES AND
SHAPES
Molecularshapecanaffect properties such as the elasticity
and rigidity of a substance. Shape can also determine how
molecules function in living organisms. The shapes of large
protein molecules are especially important in animals and
plants. Many protein molecules work by fitting together with
other molecules, in much the same way that a lock and key
fit together. For example, inside your nose are protein
molecules shaped to fit with the molecules of particular
odors. Certain scent proteins fit with the molecules that give
chocolate its odor, while another set of scent proteins fit
with the molecules that make bananas smell as they do.
Similarly, the protein hemoglobin, which is found in our red
blood cells, has a shape that fits exactly with oxygen
molecules, enabling the red blood cells to carry oxygen
throughout the body. If a protein has the wrong shape, it will
not work properly. For example, the disorder sickle-cell

SIZES AND
SHAPES
Thesizeandshapeof a molecule depend on the
type and number of atoms that make up the
molecule and how they are arranged. The
smallest moleculessuch as hydrogen, oxygen,
and water moleculescontain only a few atoms.
These molecules are smaller than one-millionth of
a meter at their widest point. Scientists usually
measure them in Angstroms (), where one is
10-10 (or 1/10,000,000,000) meters. The hydrogen
molecule, made of two hydrogen atoms, is about
1.5 . The oxygen molecule, made of two oxygen
atoms, is slightly larger, since oxygen atoms are
slightly larger than hydrogen atoms are.

SIZES AND
SHAPES
Manycarbon-containing molecules, such as
proteins and plastics, are made of long chains of
thousands of atoms. Although such molecules are
thousands of times longer than the smallest
molecules, they are still microscopic in width.
Some of the longest natural molecules are the
DNA molecules found in the cells of every living
organism. The longest human DNA molecule,
when fully stretched out, spans about 9 cm (about
4 in). However, DNA molecules twist and curl such
that 46 can pack into the microscopic nucleus of a
human cell.

DISCOVERY OF
MOLECULES
Untilthe1800schemists did not understand the
difference
between
ionic
and
molecular
compounds. They considered anything that
contained more than one element to be a
compound. Investigators, such as British scientists
Michael Faraday and Henry Cavendish, began to
differentiate the two when they realized that
some compounds, when dissolved in water, made
the water conduct electricity more easily, while
others did not. Cavendish gave himself electric
shocks to measure the conductivity of these water
solutions. His results were surprisingly accurate.

DISCOVERY OF
MOLECULES
DutchchemistJacobus Hendricus Vant Hoff (who
received the first Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1901) and
Swedish chemist Svante August Arrhenius explained
why different water solutions conduct electricity
differently. Vant Hoff determined that saltssuch as
sodium chloride (NaCl), or table salt, and potassium
chloride (KCl)split into two particles when they
dissolve in water, while substances such as glucose do
not split apart when they dissolve. Arrhenius realized
that the dissolved salts not only split, but they split
into two electrically charged particles, or ions. The ions
move through the water to conduct electricity.
Substances such as glucose do not split and thus