By John Weide

with modifications by Ken Costello

• There is a systematic process in the
naming of inorganic acids. Probably the
most significant problem is the variation of
charges for the negative ions.
• For example

NaHCl-1 chloride ion

NaHNO3-1 nitrate ion
Na
H22SO4-2 sulfate ion
H33PO4-3
Na phosphate ion
• Another significant problem is that many of
the other polyatomic ions with the same
endings on their names have a different
number of oxygen atoms attached to the
central atom.
• For example
chlorate ClO3-1
sulfate SO4-2
phosphate PO4-3
acetate C2H3O2-1
• Rather than memorize all the polyatomic
ions it is much more useful to learn their
trends in the naming scheme. There are
numerous patterns within a homologous
series.
• For example
» ClO4-1 perchlorate
» ClO3-1 chlorate
» ClO2-1 chlorite
» ClO-1 hypochlorite
» Cl-1
All the names containchloride
chlor (not a polyatomic ion)
indicating
All the
All ions
have contain
a minus one
one chlorine
charge atom
that the ion
but contains
a varying chlorine
number of oxygen atoms
 The oxy-ions of chlorine, bromine and
iodine all have these trends in common.
Look for them below……

Perbromate BrO4-1 Periodate IO4-1

perchlorate ClO4 -1
Bromate BrO3-1 Iodate IO3-1
chlorate ClO3 -1
Bromite BrO2-1 Iodite IO2-1
chlorite ClO2 -1
Hypobromite BrO-1 Hypoiodite IO-1
hypochlorite ClO -1

The most productive method of committing

these ions to memory is first memorize the
ones that have the _____ate ending. This is
the most common ending.
 POLYATOMIC IONS
Ions with -1 charge nitrate NO3-1 sulfite SO3-2
perbromate BrO4-1 nitrite NO2-1 chromate CrO4-2
bromate BrO3-1 hydroxide OH-1 dichromate Cr2O7-2
bromite BrO2-1 cyanide CN-1 oxalate C2O4-2
hypobromite BrO-1 thiocyanate SCN-1 peroxide O2-2
perchlorate ClO4-1 acetate C2H3O2-1
chlorate ClO3-1 permanganate MnO4-1 Ions with a -3 Charge
chlorite ClO2-1 bicarbonate HCO3-1 phosphate PO4-3
hypochlorite ClO-1 phosphite PO3-3
periodate IO4-1 Ions with a -2 Charge arsenate AsO4-3
iodate IO3-1 carbonate CO3-2
iodite IO2-1 phthalate C8H4O4-2 Ions with +1 charge
hypoiodite IO-1 sulfate SO4-2 ammonium ion NH4+1
The table below shows the prefixes and suffixes
that tell the number of oxygen atoms present in the
negative ion.

Salt
metal polyatomic ion # Oxygen

atoms
________ per_____ate 4

________ _____ate 3

________ _____ite 2

________ hypo_____ite 1

________ _____ide 0
 REMEMBER
the aqueous acid names are simply an
extension of the salt names.
 Salt Aqueous Acid
metal polyatomic ion hydrogen polyatomic ion
________ per_____ate per_____ic acid
________ _____ate _____ic acid
________ _____ite _____ous acid
________ hypo_____ite hypo______ous acid
________ _____ide hydro______ic acid
To transform the metal per____ate salt into its
corresponding aqueous acid name:
1) The name of the metal is dropped
2) The -ate ending is replaced with –ic
3) The word acid is added to the name
For example: potassium perchlorate > perchloric acid
KClO4(s) > HClO4 (aq)
 Salt Aqueous Acid
metal polyatomic ion hydrogen polyatomic ion
________ per_____ate per_____ic acid
________ _____ate _____ic acid
________ _____ite _____ous acid
________ hypo_____ite hypo______ous acid
________ _____ide hydro______ic acid
To transform the metal _____ate salt into its
corresponding aqueous acid name:
1) The name of the metal is dropped
2) The -ate ending is replaced with –ic
3) The word acid is added to the name
For example: sodium acetate > acetic acid
NaC2H3O2(s) > HC2H3O2(aq)
 Salt Aqueous Acid
metal polyatomic ion hydrogen polyatomic ion
________ per_____ate per_____ic acid
________ _____ate _____ic acid
________ _____ite _____ous acid
________ hypo_____ite hypo______ous acid
________ _____ide hydro______ic acid
To transform the metal_____ite salt into its
corresponding aqueous acid name:
1) The name of the metal is dropped
2) The -ite ending is replaced with –ous
3) The word acid is added to the name
For example: ammonium nitrite > nitrous acid
NH4NO2(s) > HNO2(aq)
 Salt Aqueous Acid
metal polyatomic ion hydrogen polyatomic ion
________ per_____ate per_____ic acid
________ _____ate _____ic acid
________ _____ite _____ous acid
________ hypo_____ite hypo______ous acid
________ _____ide hydro______ic acid
To transform the metal hypo_____ite salt into its
corresponding aqueous acid name:
1) The name of the metal is dropped
2) The -ite ending is replaced with –ous
3) The word acid is added to the name
For example: lithium hypoiodite > hypoiodous acid
LiIO (s) > HIO (aq)
 Salt Aqueous Acid
metal polyatomic ion hydrogen polyatomic ion
________ per_____ate per_____ic acid
________ _____ate _____ic acid
________ _____ite _____ous acid
________ hypo_____ite hypo______ous acid
________ _____ide hydro______ic acid
To transform the metal _____ide salt into its
corresponding aqueous acid name:
1) The name of the metal is dropped
2) The -ide ending is replaced with hydro____ic
3) The word acid is added to the name
For example: silver bromide > hydrobromic acid
AgBr(s) > HBr(aq)
Example #1-Names to Formulas
chloric acid
1. Determine the formula &
charge of the polyatomic ion chlorate

2. Add hydrogen ions

H ClO
+1 -1 =0
3 (aq)
3. Balance charge with ions
Final Formula
4. Add the subscript: (aq)
Examples #1- Formulas to Names

HBrO2(aq)
1. The hydrogen out front & the
(aq) subscript indicates an acid bromite
2. Determine the ion and it’s
acid ending.
bromous
____________ acid
Final Name
 Practice Problem #1
HIO4(aq)

Choose the correct name for the compound

1. iodic acid
2. iodous acid
3. periodic acid
4. hydrogen periodate
5. none of the above
Ion list next problem
 Practice Problem #2
hydrobromic acid

Choose the correct formula for the compound

1. HBrO(aq)

2. HBr(aq)

3. HBrO3(aq)

4. HBrO2(aq)

5. none of the above

Ion list next problem
 PRACTICE
• Refer to pages 159-166 for practice
problems related to nomenclature.
• Refer to page 15 for list of common
polyatomic ions.
• Refer to page 12 for charges
• Or Use Periodic Table for charges
 POLYATOMIC IONS
Ions with -1 charge nitrate NO3-1 sulfite SO3-2
perbromate BrO4-1 nitrite NO2-1 chromate CrO4-2
bromate BrO3-1 hydroxide OH-1 dichromate Cr2O7-2
bromite BrO2-1 cyanide CN-1 oxalate C2O4-2
hypobromite BrO-1 thiocyanate SCN-1 peroxide O2-2
perchlorate ClO4-1 acetate C2H3O2-1
chlorate ClO3-1 permanganate MnO4-1 Ions with a -3 Charge
chlorite ClO2-1 bicarbonate HCO3-1 phosphate PO4-3
hypochlorite ClO-1 phosphite PO3-3
periodate IO4-1 Ions with a -2 Charge arsenate AsO4-3
iodate IO3-1 carbonate CO3-2
iodite IO2-1 phthalate C8H4O4-2 Ions with +1 charge
hypoiodite IO-1 sulfate SO4-2 ammonium ion NH4+1

return