1. When naming an ionic compound, the metallic element comes before the non-metallic element and the non-metallic element ends with “ide”
The following table shows some examples:
Elements in an ionic compound |
Chemical name |
Calcium, chlorine |
Calcium chloride |
Iodine, lithium |
Lithium iodide |
Magnesium, Oxygen |
Magnesium oxide |
Sulfur, potassium |
Potassium sulfide |
For example:
Iron(II) oxide and iron(III) oxide
Copper(I) oxide and copper(II) oxide
Lead(II) oxide and lead(IV) oxide
3. A polyatomic ion will not change its name after combining with other elements
For example:
Sodium Carbonate
Potassium Sulfate
When naming a covalent compound, the name of the first element is unchanged, the name of the second element ends with “ide” and if necessary, a prefix is used for the second element to indicate the number of atoms involved.
For example:
Carbon with one oxygen atom – carbon monoxide (CO)
Carbon with two oxygen atoms – carbon dioxide (CO2)
Sulfur with three oxygen atoms – sulfur trioxide (SO3)
Carbon with four chlorine atoms – carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)
Certain covalent compounds have “common” names.
For example:
Water – H2O
Ammonia - NH3
Example:
Name the following substances:
a) MgCl2
b) Fe2(CO3)3
c) NH4OH
Solution:
a) Magnesium Chloride
b) Iron(III) Carbonate
c) Ammonium Hydroxide
Rotate to landscape screen format on a mobile phone or small tablet to use the Mathway widget, a free math problem solver that answers your questions with step-by-step explanations.