In chemistry, a formula unit is the

empirical formula In chemistry, the empirical formula of a chemical compound is the simplest whole number ratio of atoms present in a compound. A simple example of this concept is that the empirical formula of sulfur monoxide, or SO, would simply be SO, as is the ...

of any ionic or

covalent network solid A network solid or covalent network solid (also called atomic crystalline solids or giant covalent structures) is a chemical compound (or element) in which the atoms are bonded by covalent bonds in a continuous network extending throughout the mat ...

compound used as an independent entity for

stoichiometric Stoichiometry refers to the relationship between the quantities of reactants and products before, during, and following chemical reactions. Stoichiometry is founded on the law of conservation of mass where the total mass of the reactants equ ...

calculations. It is the lowest whole number ratio of

ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...

s represented in an ionic compound. Examples include ionic and and covalent networks such as and C (as

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on lar ...

).Steven S. Zumdahl; Susan A. Zumdahl (2000), ''Chemistry'' (5 ed.), Houghton Mifflin, pp. 470-6, Ionic compounds do not exist as individual molecules; a formula unit thus indicates the lowest reduced ratio of ions in the compound. In mineralogy, as minerals are almost exclusively either ionic or network solids, the formula unit is used. The number of formula units (Z) and the dimensions of the

crystallographic Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics ( condensed matter physics). The w ...

axes are used in defining the

unit cell In geometry, biology, mineralogy and solid state physics, a unit cell is a repeating unit formed by the vectors spanning the points of a lattice. Despite its suggestive name, the unit cell (unlike a unit vector, for example) does not necessaril ...

.Smyth, Joseph R. and Tamsin C. McCormick, 1995, ''Crystallographic Data for Minerals,'' American Geophysical Union

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Formula Unit Chemical formulas