What is the chemical formula for cobalt (II) hydrogen carbonate?
Risposta:
The chemical formula for cobalt(II) hydrogen carbonate is #"Co"("HCO"_3)_2#.
Spiegazione:
The name tells you that this is an ionic compound, made of cobalt(II) ions and hydrogen carbonate ions.
The symbol for the cobalt(II) ion is #"Co"^"2+"#.
The symbol for the hydrogen carbonate ion is #"HCO"_3^"-"# (you have memorized the formulas of the ioni poliatomici, haven't you?).
So, the formula contains #"Co"^"2+", "HCO"_3^"-"#.
We need two "-" charges to balance the "2+" charges on the #"Co"#.
Thus, we need two hydrogen carbonate ions, so we enclose the formula in parentheses followed by a subscript 2.
La formula è #"Co"("HCO"_3)_2#