Naming Covalent Compounds

Covalent compounds are formed when two nonmetal atoms

share valence electrons to form a covalent bond. Valence
electrons are the atom’s outermost electrons.

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Rules for Naming Covalent Compounds

 The element farthest to the left in the periodic table is

usually named first. If both elements are in the same
group, the element closer to the bottom of the column is
named first.

 add –ide ending/suffix to the second element

 place prefixes (mono-, di-, tri-, etc.) to indicate the number

of atoms in an element
Number Prefix Number Prefix
1 mono 6 hexa
2 di 7 hepta
3 tri 8 octa
4 tetra 9 nona
2
5 penta 10 deca
Example

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 Practice

1. Write the name of each covalent compound.

a. SF6
b. N2O4
c. ClO2
d. IF7
e. N2O5
f. OF2

2. Write the formula for each covalent compound.

a. silicon tetrachloride
b. disulfur decafluoride
c. Carbon tetrachloride
d. Dinitrogen tetroxide
e. Sulfur trioxide
4
Write the formula of the following

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Valency of elements

 Valency is the combining power of an atom refers to the

number of bonds that atom makes.

 For elements in groups I-IV, valency = group number

 For elements in group V-VII, valency = 8-the group number
 For elements in group VIII, valency = 0

Group I II III IV V VI VII VIII

Valency 1 2 3 4 3 2 1 0