Question

how the charge of an element is used to determine the chemical formula if the elements have equal and unequal charges.

Answer 1

Answer:

The charges are typically used to determine the mole ratio and composition of the individual atoms of elements in the compound

Explanation:

Take for instance the following compounds:

$NaOH$ and $H_{2} O$

• Na has a charge of +1 and OH -1. equal charge means equal composition.
• H has charge of +1 while O has charge of -2. The charges are unequal, so the mole ratio for conversion would require multiplication by 2...which makes H two atoms but oxygen one atom in the compound.

I hope this helps.