Naming Ionic Compounds: A Brief Tutorial

As you probably already know, ionic compounds are formed when electrons are transferred
from one atom to another. The atom that loses electrons has positive charge and is said to
be a cation. The atom that gains electrons has negative charge and is said to be an anion.
Cations and anions are strongly bound to one another with electrostatic forces, which is the
attraction of positive charge to negative charge.

The transfer of electrons that results in an ionic compound takes place when an
electronegative atom (i.e. an atom that wants to gain electrons, such as the halogens) comes
into contact with an electropositive atom (i.e. one with low electronegativity that wants to lose
electrons, such as the alkali metals). The more dissimilar the electronegativity between these
two atoms, the more likely the compound resulting from their reaction is to be ionic. As an
easy-to-remember shorthand, we usually consider any compound in which a metal is
combined with a nonmetal to be ionic.

Naming Ionic Compounds:

The following procedure is used to name ionic compounds. We'll use CaF2 and FeCO3 as
examples of compounds that we will name.

General rule: Ionic compound names consist of two words. The first word is the name of the
cation, and the second is the name of the anion.

Step 1: Write the name of the cation. In nearly all cases the name of the cation will be the
same as the name of the first element in the compound (the exception: NH 4+ is “ammonium”)
• In CaF2, the first element is calcium. As a result, the first word in the name is
“calcium.”
• For FeCO3, the first element is iron, making the first word in the name “iron.”

Step 2: Write the name of the anion. This is whatever is after the cation in the formula. If the
anion is an element, you simply write the name of the element with “-ide” substituted at the
end. If it is more than one element, it is a polyatomic ion and you just have to look up or
memorize the name.
• In CaF2, the anion is fluorine, giving us an anion name of “fluoride.”
• In FeCO3, the anion has more than one element. Looking it up, it is named the
“carbonate” ion.

Step 3: Look at the cation. If it is a transition metal, lead, tin, or bismuth, move on to step 4.
If it is not, STOP, because your formula is finished.
• For CaF2, calcium is not a transition metal. As a result, our final name is “calcium
fluoride.”
• FeCO3 has a transition metal (iron) as the cation. Let's continue to step 4.

Licensed via Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

For more chemistry tutorials and resources, visit chemfiesta.com.
Step 4: Look at the cation. If it is Zn, Ag, or Cd, STOP, because your formula is finished. If it
is not, move on to step 4.
• Obviously, Fe is neither Zn, Ag, or Cd. Let's move on to step 5.

Step 5: Some elements have more than one possible positive charge. As a result, we have
to indicate which positive charge is present in the compound. We do this using the following
equation:

|(number of anions)(charge of anion)|

Charge=
number of cations

• In FeCO3, there is one carbonate (CO3-2)ion, which has a charge of -2. There is
also one iron atom. As a result, our charge will be:

|(1)(−2)|
charge= =2
1

Step 6: Write the number from step 5 in a Roman numeral between the name of the cation
and anion. The Roman numerals are, in order, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII.
• Because we found the charge to be 2, we write the Roman numeral for 2
between the names of the cation and anion: iron (II) carbonate.

Common mistakes:
• The name and/or charge on the polyatomic ions are incorrect.
• Roman numerals are added when unnecessary.
• Roman numerals aren't present when necessary

Some practice examples: Answers:

1) NaNO3 1) sodium nitrate
2) CoCl2 2) cobalt (II) chloride
3) Zn3P2 3) zinc phosphide
4) Mg(OH)2 4) magnesium hydroxide
5) Al2O3 5) aluminum oxide

Writing Ionic Compound Formulas

Writing formulas is the same process we just learned, but in reverse. The same basic rules
apply, particularly the one that states that “the name of the cation is the first word and the
name of the anion is the second word.” Let's get started with two examples:
• lead (IV) nitrate
• magnesium oxide

Licensed via Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

For more chemistry tutorials and resources, visit chemfiesta.com.
Step 1: Write the formulas of the cation and anion in each compound:
• lead (IV) nitrate will look like this: Pb+4 NO3-1
• magnesium oxide will look like this: Mg+2 O-2

Step 2: Look at the charges on each ion. If you can reduce them both by a common value,
do it. If not, then leave it alone.
• In lead (IV) nitrate, the +4 on lead and -1 on NO 3-1 cannot be reduced. Leave them
alone.
• In magnesium oxide, magnesium has a +2 charge and oxide has a -2 charge. By
dividing both charges by 2, we get +1 and -1 respectively.

Step 3: The charge on each ion represents the number of the other ion in the compound.
For example, if the charge on the cation is +3, there will be 3 anions. If the charge on the
anion is -2, there will be two anions.
• For lead (IV) nitrate, there will be 1 lead ion and 4 nitrate ions.
• In magnesium oxide, there will be 1 magnesium ion and one oxide ion.

Step 4. Write the formula. To do this, simply write the number of each ion below the formula.
If there is more than one polyatomic ion in the formula, you write parentheses around it before
adding this number:
• Lead (IV) nitrate has the formula “Fe(NO3)4”.
• Magnesium oxide has the formula “MgO.”

Common mistakes:
• The formulas and/or charges of the polyatomic ions are incorrect.
• Students forget that the Roman numeral in the formula represents the charge on the
cation.
• Students put parentheses around ions when unnecessary, or fail to put parentheses
around ions when necessary.

Some practice examples: Answers:

1) copper (II) chloride 1) CuCl2
2) ammonium carbonate 2) (NH4)2CO3
3) nickel (III) oxide 3) Ni2O3
4) silver bromide 4) AgBr
5) sodium phosphate 5) Na3PO4

Licensed via Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

For more chemistry tutorials and resources, visit chemfiesta.com.