Skeletal Formula - Video Tutorials & Practice Problems

Skeletal Formula Concept 1

In this video, we're gonna take a look at skeletal formulas. Now, this is a representation also known as a bond line or line formula. And it's the fastest way of drawing complex organic structures. As we go deeper and deeper into organic chemistry, we're gonna move away from our structural formulas and condensed formulas because they take too long to draw. We're gonna start incorporating more line bond line or skeletal formulas to draw more complex organic compounds. Now, here we have our structural formula which shows the connectivity between different atoms. We can package everything in more tightly. So it becomes ch three C h2o H. This can be transformed into our skeletal formula. Now, before we dissect it, let's go over a few guidelines here. First, carbon carbon bonds are shown as lines where every corner represents a carbon atom with enough hydrogen atoms. So this here is a carbon and this year is a carbon. And then if we continue, we line at the oxygen because there's an oxygen right here. Now, carbon and hydrogen atoms are not shown but other atoms such as oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur are shown. So here, if we look, we have an oxygen right there. Then we're going to say there's another exception to this and that exception is h atoms attached to other atoms to atoms other than carbon are shown. So if we look, we show this oxygen and we show the hydrogen connected to it. Now, if we take a look here, we're going to say we know that these two are carbons, carbon must make four bonds. So this carbon here on the left, we see it making one bond to this carbon in the middle. It needs to make four bonds. So it's three hydrogens are there. They're just invisible. The carbon in the middle that carbon, we see it making two bonds. Remember, carbon must make four bonds. So it has two hydrogens that are invisible. So as we can see without having to show all of this, I can just do this skeletal formula and it represents the condensed formula and it represents the structural formula. Again, skeletal formula is just a quick, faster way to draw these more complex organic compounds. And we're gonna utilize them more and more as we delve deeper into organic chemistry.

Skeletal Formula Example 1

Here it says, determine the number of hydrogen atoms attached to each of the circled carbon atoms. All right. So we know that every line represents a connection between two carbons. And remember, carbon must make four bonds. So the carbon on the left, we see it making one bond to this carbon in the middle. It needs three more bonds, which would mean that it has three hydrogens that we don't see. Now the carbon in the middle, let's go to this one. We see it making what 123 bonds, carbon must make four bonds. So it's one bond short, which means it has one hydrogen that's invisible. And then finally, the carbon on the right, we see this carbon here making one, two bonds again, carbon and must make comedy bonds four. So it's missing two more bonds, which means it has two hydrogens that are invisible. So here we'd have three hydrogens, one hydrogens and then two hydrogens going from left to right. So this would be the number of H atoms on each one of these circled carbon atoms.

Draw a skeletal formula for the following molecule: CH₃CH(CH₃)CH₂CH₂OH.

• A.
• B.
• C.
• D.

Convert the following skeletal formula into condensed and structural formulas.

• A. Condensed: CH₃CH₂OHStructural:
• B. Condensed: CH₃CH₂CH₂(OH)CH₃Structural:
• C. Condensed: CH₃CH₂CH₂OHStructural:
• D. Condensed: CH₃CH(OH)CH₃Structural: