Draw up the formulas of substances by their names: Sulfur (IV) chloride, Carbon sulfide, and then calculate
Draw up the formulas of substances by their names: Sulfur (IV) chloride, Carbon sulfide, and then calculate the relative molecular weights of the substances by their chemical formulas.
Explanation of the solution to the problem: in order to formulate formulas for unknown substances, you need to know the oxidation state of atoms in some compounds, namely:
sulfur (IV) chloride – chlorine in chlorides has an oxidation state of -1, and the oxidation state of sulfur is indicated in parentheses in the name (+4), therefore the formula for sulfur (IV) chloride is SCl4.
carbon sulfide – the suffix “id” in the word “sulfide” means that sulfur in this compound is in the minimum oxidation state -2, and the oxidation state of carbon is +4, therefore: CS2.
Multiplying the relative atomic mass of each element by the corresponding index in the formula, we find the molecular weight of the compounds (the atomic mass of chlorine is 35.5):
Mr (SCl4) = 32 + 35.5 * 4 = 174.
Mr (CS2) = 12 + 32 * 2 = 76.