How to name ionic compounds: Naming simple ionic compounds isn't difficult and t

hrough your course you get used to the names as they crop up.
The name usually consists of two parts, first the name of the positive metal ion
, and secondly, the name of the negative ion derived from the non metal.
For the metal ions (cations) it couldn't be easier, its just the metal name itse
lf e.g. sodium, magnesium, aluminium etc.
For the Na+ ion e.g. sodium chloride
For the Mg2+ ion e.g. magnesium bromide
For the Al3+ ion eg. aluminium oxide etc.
However, there is one complication when a metal can form two different ions like
copper or iron.
In these cases the two ions are distinguished in the name by a Roman numerals nu
mber in brackets after the name of the metal which corresponds to the numerical
value of the positive charge on the metal ion.
e.g. Cu2O copper(I) oxide contains the Cu+ copper(I0 ion, and CuO copper(II) oxi
de contains the Cu2+ copper(II) ion
and FeCl2 iron(II) chloride contains the Fe2+ iron(II) ion, and FeCl3 contains t
he Fe3+ iron(III) ion.
However, things are a bit more complicated for the negative ions (anions) becaus
e although the name of the ion is derived from the name of the non metallic elemen
t, it is a bit different.
Oxygen forms the oxide ion, sulfur the sulfide ion etc. the names of these anion
s from group 6 end in ..ide,
e.g. sodium oxide, magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide
Fluorine forms the fluoride ion, chlorine the chloride ion, bromine the bromide
ion and iodine the iodide ion.
The names of the anions from group 7 halogens (naming ending ...ine) end in ...i
de, the halide ions),
e.g. potassium fluoride, sodium chloride, calcium bromide etc.
The name only ends in ide, when the metal is only combined with one other non-me
tal element e.g. oxygen forming an oxide, sulfur forming a sulfide, other 'ide's
include nitrides from nitrogen and phosphides from phosphorus.
For anions where two or more non metallic atoms are combined in a single ion, and
one of them is oxygen, the name often ends in ..ate (NOT oxide)
e.g. carbonate (C + O, CO3), sulfate (S + O, SO4), nitrate (N + O, NO3), chlorat
e (Cl + O, ClOx x varies) etc. see their formula in the table 1a. of Appendix 1
above.