I've been given the formula NH4Br, and I want to make sure I properly separated it into cations and anions. I got NH+1 and Br-1. The only thing is I don't get why NH in the formula is NH4. Where does the four come from?
NH4 is an ammonium ion. There are four H in the ion.
The formula NH4Br represents an ionic compound composed of ammonium cations (NH4+) and bromide anions (Br-). The ammonium ion (NH4+) consists of one nitrogen atom (N) covalently bonded to four hydrogen atoms (H), resulting in a positive charge of +1.
The number "4" in NH4Br comes from the fact that there are four hydrogen atoms associated with each ammonium ion (NH4+). Since hydrogen atoms have a charge of +1 each, the total positive charge from the hydrogen atoms is 4 (+1 charges x 4 hydrogen atoms = +4 charge). To balance out this positive charge, the central nitrogen atom in the ammonium ion has a -3 charge (-4 charge from the hydrogen atoms +1 charge from the nitrogen atom = -3 charge) to yield a net charge of +1 for the entire ion.
Therefore, the correct representation of ammonium in the formula NH4Br is NH4, where NH4+ refers to the ammonium cation with a +1 charge.