Chemistery

Here is a fact that quietly breaks a rule you learned early on. Two bottles on a shelf: one holds a gas that boils at −0.5 °C, the other a gas that boils at −11.7 °C. They are different compounds with different properties. And both have the molecular formula C₄H₁₀ . The short answer: isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula but different arrangements of atoms . Because chemical behaviour depends on how atoms are connected and positioned in space — not merely on how many of each there are — isomers are genuinely different substances with different physical and chemical properties. What a molecular formula leaves out A molecular formula is an inventory: C₄H₁₀ says four carbons and ten hydrogens. It says nothing about which carbon is joined to which. Once a molecule has four or more carbons, there is usually more than one legal way to wire them up. For C₄H₁₀ there are exactly two: Butane — a straight chain, CH₃–CH₂–CH₂–CH₃. Boils at −0.5 °C. 2-methylpropane — a th...