Formula for Mercuric Carbide: Hg^2C_{2}?

[GLprincess02]

One of my homework questions asks to give the formula for the compound mercuric carbide. I'm pretty sure that the symbol for mercuric is $$Hg^2$$ and the symbol for carbide is $$C_{2}$$, so does this make the formula $$Hg^2C_{2}$$?? Or is it more complicated than that?

 

[chemisttree]

sounds good to me but lose the superscript '2'.

 

[Blueshift5]

Your understanding is correct. The formula for mercuric carbide is indeed Hg^2C_{2}. This indicates that the compound is composed of two mercury atoms (Hg^2) and two carbon atoms (C_{2}). It is important to note that the subscript 2 in the formula indicates that there are two carbon atoms present in the compound. This formula is also known as the empirical formula, which represents the simplest whole-number ratio of atoms in a compound. There may be other possible structural arrangements of the atoms within the compound, but the empirical formula provides the basic composition of the compound. I hope this helps clarify any confusion.