CHEM-111:

GENERAL
CHEMISTRY I

Lecture 2:
Molecules, ions
and compounds

Judith Kumatso
Department of Applied
Studies
 Objectives

 Classify compounds and ions

 Determine the chemical formula of covalent and
ionic compounds from their names.
 Determine the names of covalent and ionic
compounds from their chemical formula
 Write molecular formulae of inorganic
compounds.

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 Molecules, elements and compounds
• An element is a substance that cannot be decomposed
into simpler substances by chemical changes.

• A compound is a substance that contains atoms of 2 or

more different elements that can be decomposed by
chemical means into simpler substances.

• A molecule is an aggregate of at least two atoms in a

definite arrangement held together by chemical forces
 Diatomic molecules: H, N, O, F, Cl, Br and I
 Polyatomic molecules: P, S and Se (i.e P4 and S8)

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 Ions

• An ion is an electrically charged particle obtained

from an atom or chemically bonded group of
atoms by adding or removing electrons.

Cations: positively charged

Anions: negatively charged

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 Classification of compounds

• Most inorganic compounds do not contain the

element carbon.

• The exceptions are carbon dioxide, CO2, and

carbonates, which contain the ion CO32–.

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Classification of compounds

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 Ionic compounds
• Binary ionic compounds: contain
two elements: one metal and one
nonmetal.
NaCl and AlCl3 are binary ionic
compounds.

• Ternary ionic compounds: contain

three elements, at least one metal
and one nonmetal.
KNO3 and Al(NO3)3 are ternary
ionic compounds.
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 Molecular compounds

• Binary molecular compounds :

contain two elements and both
are nonmetals.
Some examples of binary
molecular compounds are
ammonia, NH3 and water, H2O.

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 Aqueous acids

• A binary acid is an aqueous

solution of a compound
containing hydrogen and one
other nonmetal. HCl (aq) is a
binary acid.

• A ternary oxyacid is an aqueous

solution of a compound
containing hydrogen, oxygen, and
one other nonmetal. HNO3(aq)
is a ternary oxyacid.
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 Practice question

• Classify the following as an element, molecule,

molecular compound or ionic compound:
1. Fluorine
2. N2O
3. K2O
4. Silver
5. NH3
6. H2 O

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Classifying ions

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 Monoatomic ions
• Metal atoms can lose valence electrons and become
positively charged cations.

• Cations are named after the parent atom followed

by the word “ion.”
– Na+ is named sodium ion.
– Mg2+ is named magnesium ion.

• This rule applies for metals that usually form one

ion. This includes the main group metals except tin
and lead, along with Ag+, Zn2+, and Cd2+.

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 Metals that form multiple ions

• If a metal can form more than one cation, it is

named after the parent, followed by the charge in
Roman numerals in parentheses, followed by the
word ion.
– Cu+ is the copper(I) ion.
– Cu2+ is the copper(II) ion.

• This is called the Stock system of naming transition

metal cations.

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 Latin (or Suffix) System
• For metal ions with two common ionic charges.
• This system takes the Latin name of the element and
adds the suffix –ous or –ic.
• The cation with the lower charge receives the –ous
suffix; the one with the higher charge receives the –ic
suffix.
– Cu+ is the cuprous ion.
– Cu2+ is the cupric ion
• The Latin system is less common than the Stock
system.
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 Monoatomic anions
• Nonmetals can gain valence electrons and become
negatively charged anions.
• Monoatomic anions are named by dropping
the end of the element name and adding the
suffix –ide.

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 Predicting Formulas of monoatomic cations
• Recall that Group IA/1 metals always form 1+ ions
and Group IIA/2 ions always form 2+ ions.

• We can predict that Group IIIA/13 ions will form 3+

ions.

• Not all metal ion charges are predictable: tin and

lead in Group IVA/14 form both 2+ and 4+ ions.

• Most transition metals form 2+ ions from the loss of

their two s electrons. 16
Predicting formulas of monoatomic anions

• Nonmetals gain electrons to form anions in a

predictable fashion.

• Group VIIA/17 atoms gain one electron to form

1– ions: F–, Cl–, Br–, and I–.

• Group VIA/16 atoms gain two electrons to form 2–

ions: O2–, S2–, and Se2–.

• Group VA/15 atoms gain three electrons to form 3–

ions: N3– and P3–.

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 The Periodic table

• The periodic table and their common charges.

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 Polyatomic ions

• Polyatomic anions generally contain one or more

elements combined with oxygen. These anions are
called oxyanions.

• Most oxyanions have names that end in the

suffix –ate.
NO3– is the nitrate ion.
SO42– is the sulfate ion.

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 Naming oxyanions

• Some oxyanions end in the suffix –ite.

 NO2– is the nitrite ion.
 SO32– is the sulfite ion.

• Notice that these oxyanions have one less

oxygen than the –ate ions: sulfate (SO42–) and
nitrate (NO3–).

• The oxyanions that end in –ite each have one less

oxygen than the oxyanions that end in –ate.

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 More polyatomic anions
• The formula for the chlorate ion is ClO3–. What is
the formula for the chlorite ion?
– The suffix has changed from –ate to –ite. Chlorite
must have one less oxygen then chlorate, so its
formula is ClO2–.
• Notice that the charge does not change as the
number of oxygen atoms changes.
• There are two common polyatomic ions that end
in –ide:
1. Hydroxide, OH–
2. Cyanide, CN–

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Some common polyatomic ions

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 Writing chemical formulas

• An ionic compound is composed of positive and

negative ions.

• A formula unit is the simplest representative

particle of an ionic compound.

• A formula unit is neutral, so the total positive

charge must equal the total negative charge in
the formula unit.

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 Formulas of ionic compounds

• If the ions in the ionic compound have the same

charge, the formula unit contains one of each ion.
 K+ and Br– combine to form KBr.
 Ca2+ and O2– combine to form CaO.

• If the charges are not equal, we must balance the

positive and negative charges.
 Ba2+ and Cl– combine to form BaCl2.
 Li+ and S2– combine to form Li2S.

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 Crossover rule

• You can quickly verify that the chemical formula is

written correctly by crossing over the charge on each
ion.

• The charge on the aluminum ion becomes the

subscript for the oxygen, and the charge on the
oxide ion becomes the subscript for the aluminum
ion.

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 Formula units containing polyatomic ions

• Follow the same rules as binary ionic compounds;

if the charges are equal, the formula has one of
each ion.
 Mg2+ and SO42– combine to form MgSO4.

• If the charges are not equal, total charge must

equal zero. If you have more than one polyatomic
ion, it is placed in parentheses.
 NH4+ and SO42– combine to form (NH4)2SO4.

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 Binary ionic compounds
• If an ionic compound contains a metal that can have
more than one ionic charge, we must determine the
charge on the ion. The sum total charge of an ionic
compound must equal zero.
• What is the charge on the chromium ion in Cr3N2?
– The charge on a nitride ion is always 3–, so we
have a total of six negative charges (2 × N3– = 6
negative).
– The sum of the charges on the chromium ions must
be 6 positive.
– Crx+ + Crx+ + Crx+ = 6 positive  Each Cr is 2+.
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 Naming binary ionic compounds

• When naming ionic compounds, we combine the

cation and anion (+ -ide) name (drop the word ion),
with the cation first and the anion second.

• MgO is composed of one magnesium

ion and one oxide ion, therefore the
name is magnesium oxide.

• What is the name of cinnabar, HgS?

• Hg2+ is the mercury(II) ion and S2–

is the sulfide ion, so the name is
mercury(II) sulfide.
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 Predicting formulas for binary ionic
compounds
• We can determine formula of a binary ionic
compound from its name.

• What is the formula of iron(III) fluoride?

Iron(III) has a +3 charge, Fe3+; and fluoride has a
1–charge, F –.

• Since the total charge must equal zero, the formula

for iron(III) fluoride is FeF3.
+3 + 3(– 1) = zero
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 Ternary ionic compounds
• We name ternary ionic compounds like binary
ionic compounds: the cation name followed by the
anion name.

• KClO2 is named potassium chlorite.

• If we have a metal that can have more than one

oxidation state, we have to determine the charge
on the metal.
• Co(ClO3)3 is composed of cobalt(III) and chlorate
ions, so its name is cobalt(III) chlorate.
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 Practice questions

• Name the following compounds:

1. CsClO3
2. K2Cr2O7
3. NH4NO2
4. Sn(ClO3)2
5. Cr2S3
6. Ba(NO3)2

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 Practice questions

• Write the chemical formula of the following

compounds:
1. Potassium hydroxide
2. Chomium (II) sulfate
3. Calcium phosphide
4. Thallium(III) nitrate
5. Aluminium nitride
6. Rubidium sulfide.

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