Welcome to the International Home Care Nurses Organization. The International Home Care Nurses Organization is a world-wide network of nurses interested in promoting excellence in home-based healthcare throughout the world. We strive to achieve this goal through three initiatives:
The definition of a molecule is the smallest amount of something, particularly of a chemical substance, that can exist on its own. An example of a molecule are two atoms of hydrogen.
A molecule is what you get when any atoms join together. A compound is what you get when atoms of two or more different elements join together. All compounds are molecules, but not all molecules are compounds. Water is a molecule because it is made from atoms that have been chemically combined. It is also a compound because the atoms that make water are not all the same-some are oxygen and some are hydrogen. Oxygen in the atmosphere is a molecule because it is made from two atoms of oxygen. It is not a compound because it is made from atoms of only one element-oxygen. This type of molecule is called a diatomic molecule, a molecule made from two atoms of the same type.