Covalent Compounds In Written Form [duplicate]








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[Why is methane's molecular formula conventionally "CH₄", while water is "H₂O" (among others)?](/questions/974/why-is-methanes-molecular-formula-conventionally-ch%e2%82%84-while-water-is-h%e2%82%82o-a)

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Closed 6 years ago.



How do you determine which non-metal is written first in a covalent compound? This has been a confusion for me for quite some time.




The way my teacher taught me was C,H,O first, and then in order of decreasing electronegativity. 


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Typical convention for organic molecules is to list carbon first, than hydrogen, and then other elements in alphabetical order. The Merck Index, for example, does it this way.


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