Nomenclature

Chapter 5

Common Names - Exceptions

H2O = water, steam, ice
NH3 = ammonia
CH4 = methane
NaCl = table salt
C12H22O11 = table sugar

Naming Starts with Classifying

Compounds
Binary Compounds = only 2 elements

Compounds containing polyatomic ions

Acids = formula often starts with H

Classifying Binary Compounds

Compounds containing a metal and a nonmetal
are binary ionic
Type I and II

Compounds containing two nonmetals

Type III

Compounds containing H and a nonmetal =

Acids
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Binary Ionic
Made of metal cation and nonmetal anion

Name by naming the ions

Metal Cations
Type I
Metals that can only have one possible charge
Determine charge by position on the Periodic
Table

Type II
Metals that can have more than one possible
charge
Determine metal cations charge from the
charge on anion
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Type I Binary Ionic Compounds

Contain Metal Cation + Nonmetal Anion
Metal listed first in formula & name
Name metal cation first, name nonmetal
anion second
Simple metal cation name is the metal name
simple metals are Groups 1A, 2A and Al, Ga & In

Nonmetal anion named by changing the

ending on the nonmetal name to -ide
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Type II Binary Ionic Compounds

Contain Metal Cation + Nonmetal Anion

Metal listed first in formula & name

Name metal cation first, name nonmetal anion second

Metal cation name is the metal name followed by a
Roman Numeral in parentheses to indicate its charge
Determine charge from anion charge
Common Type II cations in Table 5.2

Nonmetal anion named by changing the ending on the

nonmetal name to -ide

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Determining the Charge on a Cation Au2S3

Determine the charge on the anion

Au2S3 - the anion is S, since it is in Group 6A, its
charge is -2

Determine the total negative charge

since there are 3 S in the formula, the total
negative charge is -6

Determine the total positive charge

since the total negative charge is -6, the total
positive charge is +6

Divide by the number of cations

since there are 2 Au in the formula & the total
positive charge is +6, each Au has a +3 charge
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Type III - Binary Compounds of 2

Nonmetals

Name first element in formula first, use the full

name of the element
Name the second element in the formula as if it
were an anion
However, remember these compounds do not contain
ions!

Use a prefix in front of each name to indicate the

number of atoms
Never use the prefix mono- on the first element
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Prefixes
Subscript
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Prefix
mono(not used on first nonmetal)
ditritetrapentahexaheptaocta-

Drop last a in the prefix if the name begins with vowel

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Compounds Containing
Polyatomic Ions
Polyatomic ions are charged entities that contain
more than one atom
Must memorize name, formula and charge
Look for Patterns!!

Polyatomic compounds contain one or more

polyatomic ions
Name polyatomic compounds by naming cation
and anion
Non-polyatomic ions named like Type I and II

Polyatomic Acids contain H+ and a polyatomic

anion
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Patterns for Polyatomic Ions

Elements in the same column on the
Periodic Table form similar polyatomic ions
same number of Os and same charge
ClO3- = chlorate BrO3- = bromate

If the polyatomic ion starts with H, add

hydrogen- before the ions name and add 1
to the charge
CO32- = carbonate HCO3- = hydrogen carbonate
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Patterns for Polyatomic Ions

-ate ion
chlorate = ClO3-

-ate ion plus 1 O same charge, per- prefix

perchlorate = ClO4-

-ate ion minus 1 O same charge, -ite suffix

chlorite = ClO2-

-ate ion minus 2 O same charge, hypoprefix, -ite suffix

hypochlorite = ClO16

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Acids
Contain H+ cation and anion
Binary acids have H+ cation and a
nonmetal anion
Oxyacids have H+ cation and a
polyatomic anion

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19

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Writing the Formulas from the Names

For Type III compounds, use the prefixes

to determine the subscripts
For Type I, Type II, polyatomic
Compounds and Acids
Determine the ions present
Determine the charges on the cation and
anion
Balance the charges to get the subscripts
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