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Ask a Teacher - Chemistry - Formulae and Equations - A Question from Chris
Student Name
Chris
Question
I am having problems remembering the formulae for working out formula and a.m.u is there an easy way to remember these - HELP!!!!!
Answer
You are right to try to remember a method to work out formulae rather than memorise lots of formulae. There are several methods and you will have been taught one of them. The most common is the valency method - most text books do it this way-so too does the Bitesize Revision book. Learn the method by doing lots of examples. Look at Standard Chemistry by Dickson and Wilson P31-33 and p85-88 and Questions for SG Chemistry by N Conquest, p59-63 and p70-71.
Once you have tried some examples try these, send the answers and I will check them for you.
I’m not too sure what you mean about amu-do you mean working out formula mass from a formula? If so, you use relative atomic masses (RAM) from the data book.
You are likely to be given the formula. Set out the calculation as below:
