Editing Chemical composition

{{Short description|Identity, arrangement, and ratio of the elements that make up a compound}}
{{One source|date=October 2022}}

A '''chemical composition''' specifies the identity, arrangement, and ratio of the [[chemical element]]s making up a [[chemical compound|compound]] by way of [[Chemical bond|chemical and atomic bonds]].

Chemical formulas can be used to describe the relative amounts of elements present in a compound. For example, the chemical formula for [[water]] is H<sub>2</sub>O: this means that each [[molecule]] of water is constituted by 2 [[atom]]s of [[hydrogen]] (H) and 1 atom of [[oxygen]] (O). The chemical composition of water may be interpreted as a 2:1 ratio of hydrogen atoms to oxygen atoms. Different types of [[Chemical formula|chemical formulas]] are used to convey composition information, such as an [[empirical formula|empirical]] or [[molecular formula]].

[[Chemical nomenclature|Nomenclature]] can be used to express not only the elements present in a compound but their arrangement within the [[Molecule|molecules]] of the compound. In this way, compounds will have unique names which can describe their elemental composition.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ball |first=David W. |url=https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/introductory-chemistry-1st-canadian-edition |title=Introductory Chemistry - 1st Canadian Edition |last2=Key |first2=Jessie A. |publisher=BCcampus |year=2014 |isbn=9781774200032 |access-date=19 October 2022}}</ref>

==Composite mixture==

The chemical composition of a [[mixture]] can be defined as the distribution of the individual substances that constitute the mixture, called "components". In other words, it is equivalent to quantifying the [[concentration]] of each component. Because there are different ways to define the concentration of a component, there are also different ways to define the composition of a mixture. It may be expressed as [[molar fraction]], [[volume fraction]], [[mass fraction (chemistry)|mass fraction]], [[molality]], [[molarity]] or [[equivalent concentration|normality]] or [[mixing ratio]].

Chemical composition of a mixture can be represented graphically in plots like [[ternary plot]] and quaternary plot.

==References==
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[[Category:Chemical properties]]
[[Category:Analytical chemistry]]