SH1909

FLOWCHART FOR WRITING MOLECULAR FORMULAS OF COMPOUNDS

Compounds w/ Compounds w/
Monoatomic Ions Polyatomic Ions

Symbol and Symbol and

Symbol and Symbol and charge of cation charge of
charge of cation charge of anion polyatomic ion

Using cation's charge Using cation's charge

as anion's subscript as anion's subscript
(and vice-versa) (and vice-versa)

Al3 O2- Ca2 (NO3)-

Al2O3 Ca(NO3)2

Name Formula Name Formula Name Formula Name Formula

Phosphate PO43- Permanganate MnO4- Sulfate SO4- Ammonium NH4+

Carbonate CO32- Perchlorate ClO4- Sulfite SO32- Acetate C2H3O2-

Hydroxide OH- Chlorate ClO3- Hydrogen sulfite HSO3- Chromate CrO42-

Nitrate NO3- Chlorite ClO2- Hydrogen sulfate HSO4- Dichromate Cr2O72-

Nitrite NO2- Hypochlorite ClO- Cyanide CN Peroxide O22-

05 Handout 4 *Property of STI

 student.feedback@sti.edu Page 1 of 3
 SH1909

FLOWCHART FOR NOMENCLATURE OF COMPOUNDS

Molecular
Binary Ionic Polyatomic Compounds
Compounds compounds

Type 1 Type 2
(Forms 1 ion) (Forms >1 ion)

Name of cation Name of cation Name of cation Prefix

+ + + +
Base name of Charge of cation in Name of polyatomic Name of 1st element
anion parentheses ion +
+ + + prefix
ide Base name of anion ide +
+ name of 2nd element
ide +
NaCl KNO3 ide
Sodium chloride Potassium nitrate
CO
CrO Carbon monoxide
Chromium (II) oxide

05 Handout 4 *Property of STI

 student.feedback@sti.edu Page 2 of 3
 SH1909

Common Metals That Form Greek Prefixes Prefixes and

More Than One (1) Type of Ion Suffixes for
1 Mono-
Cr2 Chromium (II) Oxyanions
2 Di- (Oxygen
Cr3 Chromium (III)
3 Tri- containing
Fe2 Iron (II) compounds)
4 Tetra-
Fe3 Iron (III) Hypo-
5 Penta-
Hg22 Mercury (I) Hyper-
6 Hexa-
Hg2 Mercury (II) Per-
7 Hepta-
Co2 Cobalt (II) -ite
8 Octa-
Co3 Cobalt (III) -ate
9 Nona-
Cu+ Copper (I)
10 Deca-
Cu2 Copper (II)
Pb2 Lead (II)
Pb4 Lead (IV)
Sn2 Tin (II)
Sn4 Tin (IV)

References
Hoefnagels, M. (2016). General biology books I and II. Quezon City: McGraw-Hill Education.
Mason, K. A., Losos, J. B., & Singer, S. R. (2017). Biology (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Tro, N. J., & Au-Yeung, H. Y. (2015). Introductory chemistry. Singapore: Pearson Education Limited.

05 Handout 4 *Property of STI

 student.feedback@sti.edu Page 3 of 3