Rules for Naming Ionic Compounds

I. Four different types of ionic compounds

A. Ionic compounds metal and nonmetal
1. Metal of Family IA, IIA, IIIA, Zn, Cd, Ag and a nonmetal
a. Name the metal and then name the nonmetal changing the ending to the -ide suffix.
b. Zinc, Cadmium and Silver always have the same charges so they follow the same rule as
above. (Zn2+, Cd2+, Ag+) 
c. Examples: NaCl = sodium chloride
K2S = potassium sulfide
Mg3N2 = magnesium nitride
ZnO = zinc oxide

2. Metal of Families IVA, VA and Transition metals and a nonmetal

a. These metals can have more than one charge. A roman numeral is added to the name to
indicate the positive charge of the metal. The nonmetal is named changing the ending
to the -ide suffix.

b. Examples: FeO = iron (II) oxide

Fe2O3 = iron (III) oxide
CuCl2 = copper (II) chloride

Nonmetal Root names

hydr-
bor- carb- nitr- ox- fluor-
silic- phosph- sulf- chlor-
arsen- selen- brom-
tellur- iod-
astat-

B. Ionic compounds metal and polyatomic ion.

Polyatomic ion - tightly bound group of atoms that behaves as a unit and carries a charge that is
usually negative.

3. Metal of Family IA, IIA, IIIA, Zn, Cd, Ag and a polyatomic ion
a. Name the metal and then name the polyatomic ion NH4+
Ammonium
b. Examples: Al2(CO3)3 = aluminum carbonate Ion is the
Na2SO4 = sodium sulfate exception
AgClO3 = silver chlorate
(NH4)2SO4 = ammonium sulphate

4. Metal of Families IVA, VA and Transition metals and a nonmetal

a. Name the metal, use a Roman numeral to indicate the positive charge of the metal and
name the polyatomic ion.
b. Examples: Cu(NO3)2 = copper (II) nitrate
MnSO3 = manganese (II) sulfite
SnCrO4 = tin (II) dichromate
 Rules for Naming Covalent Compounds

Naming Compounds Containing Two Nonmetals: when two nonmetals are combined in a compound,
it is important that the name indicate the number of atoms of each element that are present
because more than one compound can exist containing the same two nonmetals. For example,
nitrogen and oxygen form a number of different compounds with chemical formulas such as:
NO, NO2, N2O4, etc. It is essential that the names of these compounds be different. A system is
used in which Greek number prefixes are employed to indicate how many atom of each element are
present. You will need to learn the following number prefixes if you do not already know them.

Greek Prefixes:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(mono) di- tri- tetra- penta- hexa- hepta- octa- nona- deca-

If there is only one atom of the first nonmetal, the prefix, mono, is not used, but in
all other cases, the number prefix is attached to the name of the nonmetal to indicate how many
atoms of each element are present. Again, because the compound contains only two elements,
the root of the name of the second element is given an -ide ending.

Writing Covalent Formulas

carbon dioxide  (mono) carbon di - ox -ide  C1 O2  CO2

(note: mono is implied for the first element, it is not called mono- )

carbon monoxide  (mono) carbon mono - ox -ide  C1 O1  CO

dinitrogen pentoxide  di - nitrogen penta - ox -ide  N2 O5  N2O5

Naming Covalent Compounds

Greek prefix (Nonmetal name) + Greek prefix (Nonmetal root name) -ide

CO2  1-carbon 2-ox(ygen)-ide  (mono)carbon di - ox - ide  carbon dioxide

(note: mono is implied for the first element, it is not called mono- )

CO  1-carbon 1-ox(ygen)-ide  (mono)carbon mono -ox -ide  carbon monoxide

N2O5  2-nitrogen 5-ox(ygen)-ide  di -nitrogen penta -ox -ide  dinitrogen pentaoxide

Other Examples:

SO3 = sulfur trioxide

P4O10 = tetraphosphorus decaoxide
H2O = dihydrogen monoxide
 Rules for Naming Acids

Hydrogen and another nonmetal - all acids contain hydrogen as the first element and are given acid names
when in aqueous solution which is denoted by (aq) following the formula.

1. If the formula is followed by (g) denoting a gaseous state, the compound is named in the same way
as Rule A-1 (See ionic naming rules page 1)
Examples: HCl (g) = hydrogen chloride
H2Te (g) = hydrogen telluride
Note: No Greek Prefixes are used when H is the cation

2. If the formula is followed by (aq) denoting an acid solution, add a hydro- prefix to the root of the
second nonmetal name and add an -ic suffix then the word acid

Examples: H2S (aq) = hydrosulfuric acid

HCl (aq) = hydrochloric acid

NOTE: The acid with only two different atoms has a longer name.

Hydrogen and a polyatomic ion - all acids contain hydrogen as the first element and are given acid names
.
1. Polyatomic ions ending in -ite
a. Add an -ous suffix to the polyatomic ion name and add the word acid.
b. Examples: HNO2 = (hydrogen nitrite) = nitrous acid
H2SO3 = (hydrogen sulfite) = sulfurous acid
HClO = (hydrogen hypochlorite) = hypochlorous acid

c. Mnemonic – Last n-ite, I saw a m-ous-e.

2. Polyatomic ions ending in -ate

a. Add an -ic suffix to the polyatomic ion name and add the word acid.
b. Examples: H2CO3 = (hydrogen carbonate) = carbonic acid
H3PO4 = (hydrogen phosphate) = phosphoric acid
HBrO4 = (hydrogen perbromate) = perbromic acid

c. Mnemonic – I -ate a bug -ic-k

NOTE: The acid with three or more different atoms has a shorter name.