Use this page to calculate the molecular weight of chemical compounds. Enter the compound name, element symbols and/or isotope mass numbers in square brackets. The calculator displays the molecular weight, Hill formula, elemental composition and atomic percent compositions. It also converts from weight to number of moles and vice versa.

The first step in naming a chemical compound is to identify all of the elements present. Once you have a list of the elements, you can then determine the ratio and apply the appropriate naming conventions to create a name for the compound.

Carbides are a group of solids that include calcium carbide (CaC2), silicon carbide (SiC), tungsten carbide (WC; commonly called, simply, "carbide" when referring to machine tooling) and cementite (Fe3C2). Carbides contain one or more carbon atoms joined to two oxygen atoms. When they decompose in water, they produce methane, which is why they are often referred to as methanides. In addition to the carbide ions, some carbides contain polyatomic ions such as methyl acetylene, CH3CCH and propadiene, CH2CCH2. The chemistry behind these reactions is complex.