Chemical compound (source code)

= Chemical compound
{wiki}

A <chemical compound> contains atoms of at least two <chemical elements> joined in a characteristic chemical structure. Molecular <water> has composition $\mathrm{H_2O}$, while <sodium chloride> is an ionic solid with a one-to-one ratio of sodium and chloride ions rather than isolated NaCl molecules.

A compound differs from a <mixture>: separating its constituent elements generally requires a chemical transformation. A formula records composition but may not uniquely determine connectivity or <stereochemistry>, so different <isomers> can share a molecular formula.