Chemical Compounds

A compound is a substance formed from the chemical combination of two or more elements.

Elements chemically combine to form a compound. An element is a substance that is made up of the same kind of atoms and cannot be broken down into simpler substances by any chemical means. This means each element is made up of just one kind of atom. Different kinds of atoms react with each other to form new substances. The new substance formed is called Compounds.

An example of such a compound is sugar. Sugar is made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Different elements (carbon, hydrogen and oxygen) come together to form a compound (sugar). Compounds made up of only two different elements are a binary compound. Elements coming together to form a compound have different properties compared to the compound formed.

Compounds can be grouped into two types. They are:

Ionic Compounds

Molecular Compounds

Ionic Compounds: They are compounds composed of ions (anions and cations).

Molecular Compounds: They are made up of molecules.