The Hill system is a system of writing chemical formulas such that the number of carbon atoms in a molecule is indicated first, the number of hydrogen atoms next, and then the number of all other chemical elements subsequently, in alphabetical order. When the formula contains no carbon, all the elements, including hydrogen, are listed alphabetically. This deterministic system enables straightforward sorting and searching of compounds.
Read more about this topic: Chemical Formula
Famous quotes containing the words hill and/or system:
“Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down a hill lest it break thy neck with following; but the great one that goes upward, let him draw thee after.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Books are for the most part willfully and hastily written, as parts of a system to supply a want real or imagined.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)