CHEMICAL

NAMES AND
FORMULAS
CHEMICAL
NOMENCLATURE
Chemical Formula
 -shorthand representation of
compounds using symbols and
oxidation numbers
 Types:
 Empirical formula – simplest type of
formula; simplest ratio of atoms in a
compound
 Molecular formula – shows the actual
number of atoms of each element in a
compound
 Structural formula – shows the actual
number of atoms and the bonds
between them; arrangement of atoms
in the molecule
Determine the empirical
formula

P4O10

 H 2O

N2O4

C10H22

C6H18O3
PO43-
Nomenclature
phosphate ion

HC2H3O2
Acetic Acid

C2H3O2-
acetate ion
Common Names
A lot of chemicals have
common names as well as the
proper IUPAC name.
 Chemicalsthat should always
be named by common name
and never named by the
IUPAC method are:
 H2O water, not dihydrogen
monoxide
 NH3 ammonia, not nitrogen
trihydride
 Common Names Chemical Names

 Table salt sodium chloride

 Table sugar sucrose
 Muriatic acid hydrochloric acid
 Vinegar acetic acid
 Acetone 2-propanone
 Agua oxigenada hydrogen peroxide
 Chalk calcium carbonate
 Rubbing alcohol isopropyl alcohol
 Vitamin C ascorbic acid
 Baking soda sodium bicarbonate
 Definitions
 An IONIC COMPOUND consists of a
metal cation bonded to a nonmetal
anion. Electrostatic attraction holds
them together.
 A COVALENT COMPOUND consists of
two nonmetal atoms sharing valence
electrons.
 A BINARY compound is one that is
made of just two elements.
 A TERNARY COMPOUND contains 3
or more elements
 A POLYATOMIC ION is made up of
more than one kind of atom
Naming Compounds

Binary Ionic Compounds: Type 1

1. Cation first, then anion
2. Monatomic cation =
name of the element
Ca2+ = calcium
3. Monatomic anion =
root + -ide
Cl = chloride
CaCl2 = calcium chloride
Monatomic Ions
 Naming Binary Ionic
Compounds – Type 1

 Examples:
NaCl
sodium chloride
ZnI2
zinc iodide

Al2O3
aluminum oxide
Name the following
binary ionic
compounds:
 sodium nitride
Na3N
 Potassium
KBr
bromide
Al2O3
 Aluminum oxide
MgS  Magnesium sulfide
Predicting Charges on Monatomic Ions
KNOW THESE !!!!
+1 +2 -3 -2 -1 0

Cd+2
 Writing a Formula

Write the formula for the ionic

compound that will form between
Barium2+ and Chloride.
Solution:
1. Write the symbol for each element
2. Write the positive ion of metal
first,
and the negative ion
Ba2+ Cl
3. Crisscross the subscripts
BaCl2
4. If needed, reduce the subscripts to
their lowest terms
Writing Formulas for Binary
Ionic Compounds – Type 1

 Examples:
calcium chloride CaCl2
lithium nitride Li3N
barium oxide BaO
DRILL!
Na2O
CaO
MgF2
calcium nitride
aluminum sulfide
potassium bromide
barium fluoride
I CAN DO IT!
 Name the
following
compounds:
• K3N  potassium nitride
• AgI  silver iodide
• ZnBr2  zinc bromide
• Al2S3  aluminum sulfide
 barium phosphide
• Ba3P2
 Lithium hydride
• LiH
Write the chemical
formulas for the following
compounds:
 potassium oxide  K 2O
 zinc chloride  ZnCl2
 silver sulfide
 Ag2S
 aluminum nitride
 AlN
 magnesium oxide
 MgO
 calcium iodide
 CaI2
 Transition Metals
Elements that can have more
than one possible charge
MUST have a Roman Numeral
to indicate the charge on the
individual ion.
1+ or 2+ 2+ or 3+
Cu+, Cu2+ Fe2+, Fe3+
copper(I) ion iron(II) ion
copper (II) ion iron(III) ion
 Type II Binary Ionic
Compounds
These are ionic compounds where the
metal cation can form TWO different
charges.
Fe2+ iron (II) Fe3+ iron (III)
Ni2+ nickel (II) Ni3+ nickel (III)
Co2+ cobalt (II) Co3+ cobalt (III)
Cu+ copper (I) Cu2+ copper (II)
Au+ gold (I) Au3+ gold (III)
Sn2+ tin (II) Sn4+ tin (IV)

An older system uses suffixes and Latin

names, -ous for the lower charge, -ic for
the higher charge: Ferrous & Ferric,
Cuprous & Cupric, Stannous & Stannic
Examples of Older Names of
Cations formed from Transition
Metals
 Examples

 FeBr2  ferrous bromide/iron (II) bromide

 Fe2S3  ferric sulfide/iron (III) sulfide
 PbS  plumbous sulfide/lead (II) sulfide
 stannic chloride/tin (IV) chloride
 SnCl4
 cobaltous chloride/cobalt (II)
 CoCl2
chloride
 CuO
 cupric oxide/copper (II) oxide
 Writing Chemical Formulas
for Binary Ionic Compounds
Type II
 auric chloride  AuCl3
 plumbic iodide  PbI4
 cobalt (III) fluoride  CoF3
 antimonous
 SbBr3
bromide
 NiS
 nickel (II) sulfide
Name the following binary
compounds with variable
metal ions:

FeBr2  ferrous bromide/iron (II) bromide

CuCl  cuprous chloride/copper (I) chloride

SnO2  Stannic oxide/ tin (IV) oxide

 Ferric oxide/ iron (III) oxide

Fe2O3
 Mercurous sulfide/mercury (I) sulfide
Hg2S
 Exercises: Type II Binary
Ionic Compounds
Write the formulas: Write the names:
• iron (II) oxide • Fe2O3
• copper (II) chloride • SnS
• tin (IV) sulfide • NiBr2
• cupric nitride •CuS

• nickel (III) oxide • Pb3P2

• ferrous iodide • CuBr
•cobalt (III) selenide • FeCl3
 Naming Ternary
Compounds
 Contains at least 3 elements
 There MUST be at least one
polyatomic ion
 Examples:
NaNO3 sodium nitrate
K2SO4 potassium sulfate
Al(HCO3)3 aluminum bicarbonate
or aluminum hydrogen
carbonate
Polyatomic Ions

NO3-
nitrate ion

NO2-
nitrite ion
 Writing Formulas
Writeeach ion, cation first. Don’t
show charges in the final formula.
Overall charge must equal zero.
If charges cancel, just write symbols.
If not, use subscripts to balance
charges.
Use parentheses to show more than
one of a particular polyatomic ion.
Use Roman numerals indicate the ion’s
charge when needed (stock system)
 Sodium Sulfate
Na+ and SO4 -2
Na2SO4

Iron (III) hydroxide

Fe+3 and OH-
Fe(OH)3

Ammonium carbonate
NH4+ and CO3 –2
(NH4)2CO3
 Learning Check

1. aluminum nitrate
a) AlNO3 b) Al(NO)3 c) Al(NO3)3
2. copper(II) nitrate
a) CuNO3 b) Cu(NO3)2 c) Cu2(NO3)
3. Iron (III) hydroxide
a) FeOH b) Fe3OH c) Fe(OH)3
4. Tin(IV) hydroxide
a) Sn(OH)4 b) Sn(OH)2 c) Sn4(OH)
 Learning Check

Match each set with the correct

name:
1. Na2CO3 a) magnesium sulfite
MgSO3 b) magnesium sulfate
MgSO4 c) sodium carbonate

2 . Ca(HCO3)2 a) calcium carbonate

CaCO3 b) calcium phosphate
Ca3(PO4)2 c) calcium bicarbonate
Mixed Practice!

Name the following:

1. Na2O
2. CaCO3
3. PbS2
4. Sn3N2
5. Cu3PO4
6. HgF2
Mixed Up… The Other
Way
Write the formula:
1. copper (II) chlorate
2. calcium nitride
3. aluminum
carbonate
4. potassium bromide
5. barium fluoride
6. cesium hydroxide
Naming Molecular
Compounds

CO2 Carbon dioxide

All are
formed from
two or more
nonmetals.
BCl3
CH4 methane
boron trichloride
Molecular (Covalent) Nomenclature
for two nonmetals
 Prefix System (binary compounds)

1. Less electronegative atom

comes first.

2. Add prefixes to indicate # of

atoms. Omit mono- prefix on
the FIRST element.

3. Change the ending of the

second element to -ide.
Molecular Nomenclature
Prefixes

PREFIX NUMBER
mono- 1
di- 2
tri- 3
tetra- 4
penta- 5
hexa- 6
hepta- 7
octa- 8
nona- 9
deca- 10
Examples

 CCl4
 carbon tetrachloride
 N2O
 Dinitrogen monoxide
 SF6
 sulfur hexafluoride
Writing chemical formulas
for binary covalent
compounds
 boron trichloride
 BCl3

 dinitrogen pentoxide
 N2O5

 tetraphosphorus decoxide
 P4O10
Name the following
covalent compounds.

CO  carbon monoxide
CO2  carbon dioxide
 phosphorus
PCl3

CCl4 trichloride
 carbon tetrachloride
N3O2
 trinitrogen dioxide
 Write the chemical
formulas for the following
compounds:
 chlorine  ClF5
pentafluoride  CBr4
 carbon
 SiO2
tetrabromide
 silicon  OF2
dioxide
 oxygen difluoride  N2O4

 dinitrogen tetroxide
Naming Hydrates
A HYDRATE is a salt that has
water molecules trapped
within its crystals.
 Every hydrate has a certain
number of water molecules
associated with each formula
unit of the ionic compound.
The number of water
molecules is indicated by
using prefixes.
  CuSO4 · 5 H 2O
 copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate

 MgCO3 ·10 H 2O
 magnesium carbonate decahydrate
 Name the following
hydrates
 MgSO  magnesium sulfate
4 · 7 H2O heptahydrate
 FeCl · H2O  ferrous chloride
2
monohydrate
K SO4 · 18H2O
2  potassium sulfate 18-hydrate
 CuCO
3 · 4H2O
 Cupric carbonate
tetrahydrate
 NaHPO · 2H2O 
4 Sodium hydrogen phosphate
dihydrate
 Write the formulas:
 copper(II) fluoride  CuF
tetrahydrate
.4H2O
2
 calcium nitrate trihydrate  Ca(NO ) .3H O
3 2 2
 barium chloride dihydrate  BaCl .2H O
2 2
 ferric sulfate  Fe (SO ) .H O
monohydrate 2 4 3 2
 zinc carbonate  ZnCO .6H O
3 2
hexahydrate
Write the chemical
formulas:
1. dinitrogen 6. iron (III)
monoxide sulfite
2. potassium 7. calcium
sulfite chlorite
3. copper (II) 8. barium
nitrate carbonate
4. dichlorine 9. iodine
heptoxide monochlorid
5. chromium e
(III) sulfate 10.manganous
bicarbonate
 11. auric sulfite dihydrate
 12. platinum (IV) carbonate
tetrahydrate
 13. calcium bicarbonate
hexahydrate
 14. sodium nitrite monohydrate
 15.antimonous chlorite 13-
hydrate
Name the following
compounds:
1. BaIO2 9. B2Cl4
2. P4S3 10. Pb(HSO4)4
3. Ca(OH)2 11. Na2SO4.5H2O
4. FeCO3
12. Li2CO3.8H2O
5. Na2Cr2O7
13. Cu(C2H3O2)2.7H2O
6. I2O5
14.Sn(HPO4)2.4H2O
7. Cu(ClO4)2
8. CS2 15. K2Cr2O7.H2O
Acid Nomenclature

Acids
Compounds that form H+ in water.
Formulas usually begin with ‘H’.
In order to be an acid instead of a
gas, binary acids must be
aqueous (dissolved in water)
Ternary acids are ALL aqueous
Examples:
HCl – hydrochloric acid
(aq)
HNO3 – nitric acid
H2SO4 – sulfuric acid
 Acid Nomenclature Review

Anion
Ending Acid Name
No Oxygen -ide hydro-(stem)-ic acid

-ate (stem)-ic acid

w/Oxygen
-ite (stem)-ous acid
An easy way to remember which goes with which…
“In the cafeteria, you ATE something ICky”
Acid Nomenclature Flowchart

AC ID S
s ta rt w ith 'H '

2 e le m e n ts 3 e le m e n ts

h y d ro - p re fix n o h y d ro - p re fix
-ic e n d ing

-a te e nd ing -ite e nd ing

b e c om es b e c om es
-ic e nd ing -o u s e nd ing
 Acid Nomenclature

• HBr (aq)

•
• 3
H2CO
No oxygen, -ide  hydrobromic acid
• H2SO3

• Has oxygen, -ate  carbonic acid

• Has oxygen, -ite  sulfurous acid

 Acid Nomenclature

• hydrofluoric acid
• HF
• sulfuric acid
• H2SO4
• nitrous acid
• HNO2
Name ‘Em!

 HI  hydroiodic acid
(aq)

 HCl  hydrochloric acid

H  sulfurous acid
2SO3
 nitric acid
 HNO
3
 Iodic acid
 HIO
3