General Chemistry 1 | STEM 12

Chapter 4: Chemical Bonds, Chemical Formula and Chemical Equations

Learning Objectives:
 determine the chemical bond in a given compound
 name compounds given their formula and write formula given the name of the compound
Chemical Bonds
-the forces that holds atoms together to form molecules or compounds
-also called intramolecular forces.
Types of Chemical Bonds:
1. ionic bond
-formed when a metal loses electron/s to non-metal
-characterized by complete transfer of electrons that occurs when difference in electro negativities
e.g. NaCl- in sodium chloride, Sodium is a metal with 1 valence electron. This electron will be lost and
received by Chlorine with 7 valence electrons to complete the Octet rule. In this case, Na will have a
charge of +1 while Chlorine will have a net charge of -1
2. covalent bond
-characterized by sharing of electrons
a. polar covalent-unequal sharing of electrons happen when the elements (non-metals) sharing the
electrons have unequal electronegativities with a difference of 0.41-2.0.
e.g. H2O- Hydrogen has electronegativity of 2.1 while oxygen has 3.5. 3.5- 2.1 = 1.4
b. non-polar covalent
-characterized by equal sharing which happens when elements (non-metals) sharing the electron/s
have electronegativity difference of 0-0.4.
e.g. PH3- Both phosphorus and hydrogen has electronegativity of 2.1. Hence, there is no difference in
electronegativity.

Naming of Ionic Compounds

 As with ionic compounds, name the first element as is while the ending of the name of the second
element in the compound is modified by adding the suffix –ide. For polyatomic ions, name it as is.
Example: CaCl2
Naming: Ca is calcium and Cl is chlorine. Calcium will be as is while chlorine will become chloride. So,
the name of the compound is Calcium chloride.
Another example: Na2 CO3
Naming: Na is sodium while CO3 is carbonate. Therefore, the name of the compound is sodium
carbonate.
**In naming ionic compounds, the subscripts are not considered.
Writing Chemical Formula
How Do You Write Formulas For Binary Ionic Compounds?
**Binary Ionic Compounds are compounds that are composed of two elements only: one metal and
the other is non-metal.
Two Simple Steps:
1. Write the symbol and charge of each ion. Take note that the charge can be determined by
the oxidation state. For metals with one oxidation state, simply put a positive charge on the
number of valence electron. E.g. Calcium has 2 valence electrons; therefore, the charge of
calcium is +2. For elements with more than one charge, refer to your periodic table.
2. Balance the charges by providing subscripts. Subscripts tell how many of each atom is present.

Example: Calcium Chloride

The charges of magnesium and chlorine are: Ca+2 Cl-1

To balance the subscripts, another Cl-1 is needed. Therefore, the ratio will be 1 Ca atom: 2 Cl
atoms. In chemical formula, that is CaCl2.

**A shortcut way to do it is to simply bring drown the charges (excluding the sign) as subscripts but
crisscross or interchange it first. In the given example, bring down the charges 2 and 1 as
subscripts but interchange it first. Meaning, 2 will become the subscript of Cl instead of Ca and 1
1 |Prepared by: Palcongan, Abegail B.
 General Chemistry 1 | STEM 12
will become the subscript of Ca instead of Cl. Remember that if the subscript is 1, you do not
need to write it.

Another example: Aluminum Oxide

Charges: Al+3 O-2

Interchanging the charges, 3 will go to O and 2 will go to Al as their subscripts. Therefore, to write
the chemical formula of aluminum oxide is Al2O3

How do you write formulas of Ternary Ionic Compound?

**Ternary Ionic Compounds-these Compounds Contain At Least One Polyatomic Ion.
What is a polyatomic ion? These are ions that are composed of more than one element. Example:
NH4+1 -ammonium, CO3-2 –carbonate
Steps:
1. Same with binary compound.
2. In writing the subscript of the polyatomic ion if it is greater than 1, enclose the polyatomic ion in a
parenthesis and write the subscript outside.
Example: Ammonium oxide
The charges of the ions are: NH4+1 and O-2
Interchange the charges and write them as subscripts so 1 become the subscript of O while 2
become the subscript of ammonium. Since 2 is greater than 1, then we write the chemical formula
as: (NH4)2Cl
Another example: Sodium carbonate
The charges of the ions are: Na+1 and CO3-2
Interchanging the charges to be written as subscripts, 1 will be the subscript of carbonate while 2 will
be the subscript of sodium. Since the subscript of carbonate is 1, you do not need to enclose it in a
parenthesis. Therefore, the chemical formula for sodium carbonate is : Na2 CO3
**Important: if both elements have the same subscripts or have coefficients that can be reduce,
reduce it. Just take not that you are not supposed to change the original subscripts of the
polyatomic ions.
Example: Calcium carbonate
The charges of the ions are: Ca+2 CO3-2
Both of them will be having a subscript of 2 so you can reduce it to one which does not need to be
written. So, the chemical formula of calcium carbonate will be Ca CO3

How do you name covalent molecules?

1. Name the first element as is while change ending of the second element to –ide.
2. Use the prefixes mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta- etc. to indicate the number of atoms (subscript).
Mono=1, di=2, tri=3, tetra=4, penta=5, hexa=6, hepta=7, octa=8, nona=9, deca=10
Example: N2O5
Naming: N is nitrogen and O is oxygen which will become oxide. N has a subscript of 2 so the
prefix di- will be used while O has 5 so the prefix penta- will be used. Therefore, the name of the
compound is : Dinitrogen Pentaoxide. Now, if a and o comes consecutively, omit the “a” making
it Pentoxide instead of pentaoxide. So, the name is dinitrogen pentoxide.

2 |Prepared by: Palcongan, Abegail B.