General Formula - GCSE Chemistry Definition

In GCSE Chemistry, the term 'general formula' refers to a simple way of showing information about a family of chemical compounds. It uses letters and numbers to represent the elements and the number of each type of atom in the most basic form of the compounds. For example, alkanes, which are a type of hydrocarbon, have the general formula CₙH₂ₙ₊₂. This means for every 'n' carbon atoms, there are '2n+2' hydrogen atoms. The general formula helps predict the structure of other compounds in the same group, because they all follow the same pattern or rule.