APPENDIX B

I.

Naming and Writing Chemical Formula

Naming Chemical Formula

There are currently over 10 million known compounds. Fortunately, it is not

necessary to memorize their names. The IUPAC (International Union of Pure and
Applied Chemistry) devised a system for naming chemical compounds and writing
chemical formula. The established rules offer a useful way of labeling numerous
substances and provide a universal language among chemists.
1.1 Rules for Naming Binary Compounds
1.

A binary compound is a chemical compound made up of two elements. The

cation is always named first and the anion second. For Example,
NaCl ;

Na
Cl

2.

Some cations or positively charged ions use the same name as that of the
name of the element given in the periodic table. For example:
sodium (Na) in its ion form Na

1+

is also called

sodium ion calcium (Ca) in its ion form Ca

2+

is

called calcium ion

3.

Some cations especially those which belong to the transition metals may
have several valency of oxidation state. In this case the one which has
lower valency/oxidation state uses the suffix ous and those with higher
valency uses the sufix ic. For example:
copper (Cu) may be Cu

1+

called cuprous or Cu

2+

called cupric

2+

ferrous or Fe

iron (Fe) with a trivial name ferrum may be Fe

4.

ferric

A simple cation (obtained from a single atom or monoatomic) takes its

name from the name of the element. A simple anion (monoatomic) is
named by taking the first part of the element name (the root) and adding
the letters ide.
Na

5.

3+

= sodium

Cl = chloride (chlorine + ide)

Write the name for the compound by combining the

names of the ions. sodium chloride

6.

In some cases for simple cations, especially those which have several
oxidation numbers, a Roman numeral may be used to indicate the oxidation
number (charge) of the metal cation. This rule is called the stock system.
For example:
FeCl3

3+

iron(III)
chloride
iron(III) chloride

2+

mercury(II) instead of mercuric

bromide
mercury(II) bromide

Fe
-

Cl
FeCl3
HgBr2

Hg
-

Br
HgBr2
7.

instead of ferric

In case of binary covalent compounds like gases, prefixes are used in

order to indicate the number of atoms in the chemical formula. For example:
CO2
mono is not used on C being the first atom in the
formula*, but the two
atoms of O are indicated by the prefix di
CO2 = carbon dioxide
N2O
since there are two atoms of N such that we use di
as its prefix and
mono for one oxide ion, thus;
N2O = dinitrogen monoxide
CO

carbon monoxide, meaning one atom of C

and one atom of O N2O5

dinitrogen pentoxide, 2

atoms of N and 5 atoms of O

CCl4

carbon tetrachloride

*Note: The prefix mono is not used for naming the

first element.

1.2 Rules for Naming Ternary Compounds

Another type of compound is ternary compound, which contains polyatomic
ions. A polyatomic ion is a group of atoms with an electric charge. Naming ternary
compounds has the following rules:
1. Nearly all polyatomic ions end with the letters ate or ite. (There are
exceptions: cyanide (CN ),
hydroxide (OH ), and
, wherein ions end with ide. One might think
peroxide O2
of a binary
compound when you actually have a ternary compound).
-n
-n
XO2-n
XO3-n
X
XO
X0
-n
4
(X(X(X(hypo-X(per-Xite)
ate)
ide)
ite)
chlorid
hypochlori
chlorite
chlorat
perchlora
(ClO-2 )
e
te
e
te
(Cl
(ClO
(ClO
cyanid
hypocyani
cyanite
cyanate
percyana
(CNO-2 )
(CNO-3 )
e
te
te
(CN
(CNO
(CNO
sulfid
sulfit
sulfate
2e
e
(SO )
3
4
2(S
(SO
2. In cases when polyatomic anions contain hydrogen H at the beginning of the
formula, the prefix
bi is added to the name of the ion.

HSO-

HSO
4

bisulfit

bisulfat
HCO
-

HPO2-

bicarbona
HPO
2-

biphospha

biphosphi
3.

Follow the naming systems for binary compounds but do not change the
name of the polyatomic ions. Example,
NaClO3

1+

Na
+3 ClO
sodium + chlorate
+3

2-

Al2 (SO4)3 Al
+
4
SO
aluminum + sulfate
Fe(CN)3

NaClO3 = sodium chlorate

3+

Fe
+ CN
ferric + cyanide
2

Ca(HSO4)2 Ca
+
HSO
calcium +
bisulfate

Al2 (SO4)3 = aluminum sulfate

Fe(CN)3 = ferric cyanide

iron(III) cyanide
Ca(HSO4)2 = calcium bisulfate

1.3 Rules in Naming Hydrates

Hydrates are considered ionic compound, with a specific ratio of water
molecules trapped within the crystal structure.
1.
2.

Name the ionic compound.

Add the word hydrate with the Greek prefix corresponding to the number
of water molecules that is present with each unit of the ionic compound.
CuSO45H2O

copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate

or pentahydrated copper(II) sulfate

1.4 Rules for Naming Acids

1. All acids begin with H (hydrogen). The names of most acids end with the
word acid. There are
two types of acids: those that contain oxygen and those that do not.
2.

Hydrochloric acid however, is used to name HCl when it is in aqueous

form. If HCl is in the gaseous form (or any halide for that matter), it is
named as hydrogen chloride (or hydrogen halide).

3.

Follow the rule of changing the suffix of the polyatomic anions in an acid. For
example, chlorine and its anion forms:
Suffix of the
anion (Cl1-)
chloride
1hypochlorite (ClO )
1chlorite (ClO2 )
1chlorate (ClO
3 )
1perchlorate (ClO
4
)

suffix is
changed
hydro to
hypo
ous ous
ic
per

ic

ic

Name of the
acid
hydrochloric acid
hypochlorous
acid
chlorous acid
chloric acid
perchloric acid

B. Writing Chemical Formula

There are procedures that can be followed in writing a chemical
formula for a certain compound. For example, consider writing the formula
of sodium oxide.
1.

Identify the symbols of the cation and anion. Write their symbol together
with their respective valence charge. The cation is placed on the left, anions
are written on the right.
sodium = Na

1+

oxide = O

2-

1+

Na

2-

2.

Balance the positive and negative charge. Since each sodium is 1+ and
+
each oxide is 2-, then it will take two Na to balance one oxide with a 2- so
that:
1+(2)

Na
3.

2-(1)

(1+)(2) + (-2)(1) = 0

Write the formula placing the subscripts right after the symbol they go with.
The numbers inside the parenthesis become the subscripts in the formula.
Na2O

4.

Notice that the subscript 1 does not have to be written after the oxide
symbol. It is understood that the subscript is 1 if none is written.

5.

Similarly, the subscripts are not written if both ions have the same value for
their oxidation number.

The same rule applies to formula writing with polyatomic ions. Using aluminum
sulfate as an example:
1.

Identify the symbols of the cation and anion. Write their symbols together
with their respective valence charge. The cation is placed on the left,
anion is written on the right. Treat the polyatomic ion as a single unit.
aluminum =
2SO4
3+
;
Al
3+
Al
sulfate
=4
2SO

2.

Balance the positive and negative charges. Since each aluminum is 3+ and
sulfate is 2-, then it will take two 2 aluminum ions to balance 3 sulfates with
a 2- so that:
Al

3.

3+ (2)

SO
4

2-(3)

(+3)(2) + (-2)(3) = 0

Write the formula placing the subscripts right after the symbol they go with.
The numbers inside the parenthesis become the subscripts in the formula.
Al2 (SO4)3

4.

Notice that a parenthesis is used to show that sulfate is treated as a single

unit and separate the subscript of the chemical formula with that of the ion.