NOMENCLATURE OF INORGANIC COMPOUDS

- How do we name compounds either ionic or covalent

Seashell

common name: limestone

Nomenclature: calcium carbonate

Common and Systematic Names

- Common names are arbitrary and are often related to the physical or chemical properties of the
compound.
- Systematic names precisely identify the chemical composition of the compound.

Element

- Some elements do not exist as single atoms when they are not in compounds.
- Diatomic molecules exist as two atoms bonded together.
- Polyatomic molecules contain more than two atoms.

Elements occurring as Diatomic Molecules

- Hydrogen H2
- Oxygen O2
- Nitrogen N2
- Chlorine Cl2
- Fluorine F2
- Bromine Br2
- Iodine I2
- Sulfur S8
- Phosphorus P4

The air you are breathing is 78% N2, 21% O2 and 1% Ar

Forming Cations

- Metals lose electrons to be stable

- Metal ions are positively charged because they have mote positive protons than negative
electrons.
- Cations lose electrons
- K > K+ + e-

Naming Cations

- Cations are named the same as their parent atoms, as shown here:
- Atom Ion (charge)
- K potassium. K+ potassium ion
- Mg magnesium. Mg2+ magnesium ion
- Al aluminum. Al3+ aluminum ion
Forming Anions (negatively charged ions)

- Nonmetals gain electrons to be stable.

- Nonmetal ions are negatively charged because they have fewer positive protons than negative
electrons
- Anions gain electrons
- Cl + e- > Cl-
- Monatomic anions use the stem of the element’s name and the ending changed to ide.

ION CHARGES

- metals on the left side of the periodic table form only one ion
- Many metals form more than one ion. Often these are the transition metals.
- The charge of a nonmetal is group number -8.

Ionic Compounds

- Compounds are held together bu the attractive forces between the catioms (positive ions) and
the anions (negative ions)
- Formulas are the simplest whole number ration of each element
- Solids at room temperature
- Conduct electricity when molten

Writing formulas for ionic compounds

- Write the formula for the metal ion followed by the formula for nonmetal ion
- Combine the smallest numbers of each ion needed to give the charge sum equal to zero
- Write the formula for the compound as the symbol for the metal and nonmetal each followed
by a subscript of the number determined in step 2

Zinc Oxide

- Write the formula for the metal ion followed by the formula for the nonmetal ion.
- Combine the smallest numbers of each ions needed to give the charge sum equal to zero.
- Write the formula for the compound as the symbol for the metal and nonmetal each followed
by a subscript of the determined in step 2.

The fact that 2 elements combine in a one-to-one ratio mean that the charges on their ions are both 1.
 NAMING BINARY IONIC COMPOUNDS

- Binary Ionic compounds contain only two elements: a metal and nonmetal

Compounds containing a metal that forms only one type of cation

1. Write the name of cation

2. Write the name of anion with -ide ending
- AIF3 aluminum fluoride
- Ca3N2 calcium nitride
- KCl potassium chloride

Compounds containing a metal that can form two or more types of cations

Stock system: the name of the cation is the name of the element with a roman numeral in
parentheses equal to the charge

1. Write the name of the cation

2. Write the charge on the cation as a roman numeral in parentheses

3. Wrote the name of the anion with suffix-ide

CaCl3 cobalt (III) Chloride

Fe3P2 iron (ii) phosphide

Classic system: uses Latin name of the metal. Modified with suffixes -ous (lower) and -ic (higher)
depending on the metal change

Difference between Naming and Writing Ionic and Covalent Compounds:

- In Ionic compounds, we can identify the metal and nonmetal.

- In covalent compounds, we need to identify which of the elements is more electronegative.

Naming Binary Molecular Compounds

- Binary molecular compounds contain two nonmetals or a nonmetal and a metalloid.

1. Write the name for the first element using a prefix if there is more than one atom of this
element
2. Write the stem of the second element with the suffix -ide. Use a prefix to indicate the number of
atoms for the second element.

Atom prefixes

1. Mono 7. Hepta
2. Di 8. Octa
3. Tri 9. Nona
4. Tetra 10. Deca
5. Penta
6. Hexa