2H+O=H2O (chemical formula) (2025)

Not exactly 2 + 2 = 4 but another formula:

2H + O = H2O in Arabic:
هـ2 + او = هـ2او

Do all the elements have a transcription then? Wikipedia, for example, just states the Latin version (Cr, Se...).

Also, can one use و for +?

Anatoli said:

Not exactly 2 + 2 = 4 but another formula:

2H + O = H2O
2H2 + O2 → 2H2O
in Arabic:
هـ2 + او = هـ2او

Click to expand...

Your formula is not correct, but that's not our topic here. I think they would write it completely in Latin letters in Arabic:

2H2 + O2 → 2H2O

I'm not sure about how they would pronounce it, though.

Anatoli said:

Not exactly 2 + 2 = 4 but another formula:

2H + O = H2O in Arabic:
هـ2 + او = هـ2او

Click to expand...

Actually the chemical elements have their own symbols in Arabic, so Oxygen is أ and Hydrogen is يد (I think it's chosen based on إيدروجين/يدروجين but I'm not sure).
So the forumal is written in Arabic like this:

2يد + أ = يد2أ ​

Edit:

HKK said:

Do all the elements have a transcription then? Wikipedia, for example, just states the Latin version (Cr, Se...).

Also, can one use و for +?

Click to expand...

Yes, as I said, chemical elements have their own transcription in Arabic. But they're not usually used. People who learn chemistry in Arabic would still write the formula in English.
But there was time in Egypt where it was taught in Arabic, so people would learn, for example, this:

كبريت = كب
كوبالت = كو
هيدروجين = يد
كربون = ك
أكسجين = أ
نيتروجين = ن
صوديوم = ص
بوتاسيوم = بو
فوسفور = فو
يود = يو​

​

P.S. I needed to ask my mother about these I never learnt chemistry like this myself ​

That's interesting. I wonder what the letter for potassium would be. كا would be funny, because the word (Kalium) where the K for potassium comes from is actually Arabic: al-qaalya if I'm correct.

By the way, the word buutaasiyum is from Dutch "pot-as", pot-ash. Probably making it one of the very few Dutch words in Arabic

But enough about this unpoetic element

How would you read this formula then:

2H2 + 2O → 2H2O

I mean do you pronounce the numbers in Arabic. Do you say "aytch" (H) or ها or something like that?

Glad, I've got answers for this. I found this formula somewhere, was curious if it was correct. I also wonder if the formulas are written the Arabic way or the European way? On a standard Arabic keyboard if you type with a mixture of Arabic letters and numbers, it becomes right-to-left, if you switch to Latin it becomes left-to-right. Are there any rules about this?

What about the arithmetics? Is it conventional to write
"4 = 2 + 2" or "2 + 2 = 4" in an Arabic textbook on maths or it depends on the country?

Syrian Bird said:

I forgot to correct the equation
It's not right to write H2 + O ---> H2O
The right is 2H2 + O2 ---> 2H2O
cause Oxygene can't exist in nature as a single atom
What I can add is that we keep in Arabic even the direction of writing (ltr) for Math. And Chem. equations

Click to expand...

Thanks, In the parent thread (H2 + O = H2O), the order was different with Arabic numerals - right-to-left. Is it correct to assume:
1) If using 1, 2, 3 .. and Latin letters for chemical elements, use left-to-right.
2) If using Arabic numerals and Arabic letters, it's right-to-left?
3) Is the combination possible and used? 1, 2, 3 and Arabic letters?

EDIT:
I know that Arabic numerals have the same order as in Europe, left-to-right, so my 2nd question is about the order of letters and other symbols. Also I am aware that NOT all Arab countries use Arabic numerals.

Hi
We DO read the letter H in English "Atch" for Hydrogen
And we write Chem. equations "ltr" - from left to right -
In schools, the used way of writing Math. equations was from right-to-left. Ex.:
2س2 + 3ع =25 "معادلة قطع مكافئ, يعني parabole

x: س
y: ع
But just this year, this way was canceled and the ministry of education has adopted the latin symbols, and the ltr direction

Syrian Bird said:

Hi all
Dear Anatoli
your assumptions are exactly true ( Either ltr with no arabic letters or numerals, or rtl with no Latin)
But about the third question, the answer is negative;
There's NO combination between the numbers (1, 2, 3...) and the Arabic letters

Click to expand...

Thanks, Syrian Bird but your previous post is exactly the example of this - numbers (1, 2, 3...) and the Arabic letters

س2 + 3ع =25

Click to expand...

Hi
The problem is simply in the display, in the local settings of the PC; you can not see the Arabic numeral since you have not added the Arabic language AND activated the Arabic numerals from the Ctrl Panel, Regional Settings, Numbers.

So, I made a simple picture (using paint) to "draw" a Math. equation in Arabic, and I attached it to this post. I hope this's gonna help
The pic. shows the graph of a parabolic curve of the following function: y= 3x2 + 6
In Arabic:
الصورة تبين الخط البياني لمنحني قطع مكافئ للمعادلة المبينة في الصورة
(the pic. may seem to be made by a child cause I make it quiqly )

is it working?

I think all countries using Arabic script in their language use latin based symbols in scientific area. You will not get very far if you use Arabic symbols and formulaes in mathematics, physics, chemistry etc. For example, although Arabic is very qualified to express the Phythagorian principle literally, the best way to express it in formula is:

A2=B2=C2

One reason is because the latin alphabetical symbols are very distinct from one another
Aydin

Dear Anatoli
Fortunately you have a third option:
if you adjust the local settings to see the numbers basing on the context so you can see them the right way (i.e. when the text is ltr you see the 1,2,3.. numbers "called Arabic Numbers!"), And when the text is rtl, so you see the numbers cerrently used in Arabic "called Indian numbers")

Ex. in MS.Word: Go to tools, Options, then choose the pane "Arabic scripts" and from the numbers selection menu choose "context". (you should have previously installed the Arabic language)

Aydintashar said:

I think all countries using Arabic script in their language use latin based symbols in scientific area. You will not get very far if you use Arabic symbols and formulaes in mathematics, physics, chemistry etc. For example, although Arabic is very qualified to express the Phythagorian principle literally, the best way to express it in formula is:

A2=B2=C2

One reason is because the latin alphabetical symbols are very distinct from one another
Aydin

Click to expand...

Actually, Arabic handles mathematics quite well using an Arabic script. I agree with you, though, regarding Chemistry. It's not efficient to translate all those symbols when the whole world has agreed on a specific set. One set of symbols should be as good as any. That's why although math is often taught in the Arabic script, Chemistry is almost always taught using the same Latin symbols used in all other languages.

Whodunit said:

Your formula is not correct:
2H2 + O2 → 2H2O

Click to expand...

The formula for one molecule of water is H2O. Yours is for two molecules of water.

Syrian Bird said:

The pic. shows the graph of a parabolic curve of the following function: y= 3x2 + 6

Click to expand...

Your parabola is upside down, which is not correct according to your formula. It should be y=-3x²+6 then. In Arabic, would that be:

ع=-٣س٢+٦

The ٢ must be raised, of course. How would you write roots or the binomial transformations when we use a and b in English and not x and y? Wikipedia has an article about it, but not very informative for our problem here.

Qcumber said:

The formula for one molecule of water is H2O. Yours is for two molecules of water.

Click to expand...

I dropped chemsitry last year , but what I can tell you is that you have to adjust the formula so that there are as many molecules on either side:

2H2 + O2 → 2H2O
4H + 2O → 4H+2O

• the H molecule exists twice, add a 2 before it, you'll get 4
• the O molecule exists twice, no need to adjust it
• the element H2O is correct, but not adjusted to the basic material yet
• putting a 2 before it haves you multiplied every molecular: 2xH2 + 2xO = 2H2O

To me, the formula looks all right. But maybe there's some bug in it, and I'm just too blind to see it.

Originally posted by Whodunit:
Your parabola is upside down, which is not correct according to your formula. It should be y=-3x²+6 then.

Click to expand...

That's right, but really I didn't care about what graph or what equation to quote, I just wanted to give an example of how equations are written in Arabic and how we draw the Normal Coordinates System in the same direction as in English, i.e. we don't inverse the direction of the abcissa axes, that's was my motivation to draw the pic.
Furthermore, THE GRAPH DOES NOT REPRESENT A PARABOLIC CURVE AT ALL cause I used an (egg-like shape) from the Paint program and I cut it to form a (parabola-like curve). Am not that bad in Math

Syrian Bird said:

Am not that bad in Math

Click to expand...

I've never questioned that.

However, what about my last questions about roots and and binomials? An another things just occured to me: How do you write sine, cosine, tangent etc. in Arabic? Are these terms possible?

Hi dear friend Whodunit and everybody

Sorry for being late in replying you

About roots, Sigma and integration symbols:
we write these symbols inverted (from right to left)

About the Sigma counter, which is usually denoted by k
we use the letter ك
Unfortunately I can't show an example, cause I need to quote it as a picture, but if you ask me for that, I'll prepare some examples for you

About sinusoidal functions:
I saw the page you put a link of. It's exactly the adpoted notations and symbols that are used in Arabic. What I can add is that the word (جيب) which is equivalent to "sinus" is simply the translation of it. I noticed that when I was reading a medical article talking about (sinusoidal node in heart which is responsible of generating the electrical pulses of the heart...) I recognised that we call it the same way in Arabic:
العقدة الجيبية المسؤولة عن توليد النبضات الكهربائية للقلب

As well, I think there are sinuses in the nose (right?) they're called in Arabic:
الجيوب الأنفية

About "cosine" which is "co + Sine": In Arabic we add the letter ت as an equivalent to the prefix "co",
thus "cos" becomes: تجب
*N.B For facilitating the writing, we don't dot the symbolic words in Math. ex. we write the word تجب with out dots when we use it in equations
I hope I could be some usefull to you