Denoting brackets/parentheses

[Alyssa Wilson 2A]

Can someone please clarify when we use brackets vs. parentheses to denote materials in the gas law?

[Rachana Jayaraman 1H]

I think brackets are usually used to denote concentration, such as [J] is the concentration of solution/gas J, whereas parentheses are used to show that you are multiplying values. In the ideal gas law, Dr. Lavelle used brackets when rewriting the formula as P = [conc.]RT, but for calculations it shouldn't matter.

[904936893]

I'm pretty sure brackets indicate concentration so for Kc [H20] indicates the concentration of water, but with Kp you have (PCl2). You don't need brackets to indicate concentration for this because the P indicates the pressure of the gas. I hope this helps!

[Summer de Vera 2C]

My T.A. said that brackets indicate concentrations while parentheses are for calculating the K of partial pressure. It would be incorrect to do [Pco2] for example because you'd be trying to calculate the concentration of a partial pressure, which isn't correct.

[Jason Ye 2I]

Brackets are for concentration and parentheses are for states of matter and other things within chemical notation I think.

[Jason Ye 2I]

Brackets are for concentration and parentheses are for states of matter and other things within chemical notation I think.

[Luis_Yepez_1F]

Brackets are primarily used to denote that the element is in concentration, parentheses are just used for partial pressures.

[Shreya_Bharadwaj_1D]

You would use the brackets to denote concentrations or molarity and use parentheses to indicate partial pressure

[AlyssaBei_1F]

Brackets are only used when dealing with concentration.

[Kaylee Kang 1G]

Brackets are typically used to denote concentration!