Isomerism

In organic chemistry, a number of organic compounds having different physical and chemical properties can be represented by the same molecular formula. The property by virtue of which organic compounds possessing different physical and chemical properties and having the same molecular formula is known as isomerism and the different compounds are known as isomers or isomerides.

1. Since the isomers are constituted of the same number of atoms, so it is clear that the difference in their properties must be due to the difference in the relative arrangement of the atoms within the molecules. There are two types of isomerism, namely
   1. Structural isomerism
   2. Stereoisomerism