Math

General skills
 Properties of exponents and properties of logarithms: Being comfortable with using logs
and exponents will be helpful for acid and bases, kinetics, and equilibrium.

 Graphing slope-intercept form: Part of the fun of chemistry is running your own
experiments. Once you obtain experimental data, you'll need to know how to visualize and
interpret the results.

 Quadratic formula: Knowing how to set up and solve quadratic equations will come in
handy when you learn about chemical equilibrium.

Science-specific skills
 Scientific notation: Chemists are lazy and don't want to write out all the zeros in numbers
like 300,000,000 or 0.0000057, so we instead write these numbers using scientific
notation. Understanding scientific notation will let you skip writing out all those zeros, too!
 Dimensional analysis: My number two rule for learning chemistry is to
always always check the units. Dimensional analysis is a helpful tool for making sure the
units of different quantities make sense in any scientific calculation. 

Rule 1: Make sure all chemical equations are balanced!

 Significant figures: Scientists use significant figures to aggravate chemistry students (just
kidding!) and communicate the precision of a measurement or calculation.

Physics and biology

 The scientific method: Scientists are constantly uncovering new information about how the
world works. The scientific method helps us ask questions about our observations and
design experiments to test possible explanations.
 Coulomb’s Law: The force between charged particles can be used to explain the
properties of matter down to the subatomic level.

Molecules and compounds

Atoms are the smallest units of matter that still retain the fundamental chemical properties of
an element. Much of the study of chemistry, however, involves looking at what happens when
atoms combine with other atoms to form compounds. A compound is a distinct group of atoms
held together by chemical bonds. Just as the structure of the atom is held together by the
electrostatic attraction between the positively charged nucleus and the negatively charged
electrons surrounding it, the stability within chemical bonds is also due to electrostatic
attractions. To illustrate further, consider the two major types of chemical bonds: covalent
bonds and ionic bonds. In covalent bonds, two atoms share pairs of electrons, while in ionic
bonds, electrons are fully transferred between two atoms so that ions are formed. Let’s
consider both types of bonds in detail.

Covalent bonds and molecules

A covalent bond is formed when two atoms share electron pairs. In a covalent bond, the
stability of the bond comes from the shared electrostatic attraction between the two positively
charged atomic nuclei and the shared, negatively charged electrons between them.

A neutral hydrogen atom, shown left, contains one electron. Two hydrogen atoms can combine by donating each of their
electrons into a single covalent bond, depicted on the right as the area where the gray clouds around each hydrogen atom
overlap. In the covalent bond, the electron pair is shared between the two hydrogen atoms. When the covalent bond is
formed, we no longer have two separate hydrogen atoms but instead a single molecule of hydrogen—H2.

When atoms combine by forming covalent bonds, the resulting collection of atoms is called a
molecule. We can therefore say that a molecule is the simplest unit of a covalent compound.
As we will now see, there are a variety of different ways to represent and draw molecules.

Note: We have just defined a molecule to be any distinct group of atoms bound together with
covalent bonds. However, a few teachers and textbooks define a molecule more narrowly.
According to this less common definition, a molecule is a group of covalently bound atoms of
the same element only. In the rest of this article, we will stick to the broader definition of
molecule because it is more common. Therefore, we will be using the terms molecule and
covalent compound interchangeably.

By this less common definition, O2--oxygen gas—and N2—nitrogen gas—would be two

examples of molecules, but ammonia, NH3, would not properly be called a molecule because it
contains more than one type of element. By this less common definition, we would have to
classify ammonia as a covalent compound, but not a molecule.

Representing molecules: chemical formulas

Chemical formulas, sometimes also called molecular formulas, are the simplest way of
representing molecules. In a chemical formula, we use the elemental symbols from the
periodic table to indicate which elements are present, and we use subscripts to indicate how
many atoms of each element exist within the molecule. For example, a single molecule of NH 3,
ammonia, contains one nitrogen atom and three hydrogen atoms. By contrast, a single
molecule of N2H4, hydrazine, contains two nitrogen atoms and four hydrogen atoms.

Concept check: The chemical formula for acetic acid, a common acid found in vinegar, is
C2H4O2. How many oxygen atoms are there in three molecules of acetic acid? As we can see
from the chemical formula, C2H4O2, there are two oxygen atoms in one molecule of acetic acid.
Therefore, in three molecules of acetic acid, there will be 3 × 2 = 6 oxygen atoms.

As your study of chemistry continues, you will find that sometimes chemists write molecular
formulas in different ways. For example, as we just saw, the chemical formula for acetic acid is
C2H4O2; however, we will often see it written as CH3COOH. The reason for this second type of
formula is that the order in which the atoms are written helps to show the structure of the
acetic acid molecule—this is sometimes called the condensed structural formula. As such, we
can think of CH3COOH as being like a cross between a chemical formula and a structural
formula, which we will consider next.

Representing molecules: structural formulas

Chemical formulas only tell us how many atoms of each element are present in a molecule,
but structural formulas also give information about how the atoms are connected in space. In
structural formulas, we actually draw the covalent bonds connecting atoms. In the last section,
we looked at the chemical formula for ammonia, which is NH 3. Now, let’s consider its structural
formula:

Two structural formulas for ammonia, NH3. The formula on the left gives only a two-dimensional approximation of molecular
structure, whereas the formula on the right shows the orientation of atoms in space using dashes going into the plane of the
page and wedges coming out of the plane of the page. The two dots on nitrogen in the right formula indicate a lone pair of
electrons.

From both of these structural formulas, we can see that the central nitrogen atom is connected
to each hydrogen atom by a single covalent bond. Keep in mind, however, that atoms and
molecules, just like everything else in the universe, exist in three dimensions—they have
length and width, as well as depth. In the structural formula to the left, we are only seeing a
two-dimensional approximation of this molecule. However, in the more detailed structural
formula on the right, we have a dashed line to indicate that the rightmost hydrogen atom is
sitting behind the plane of the screen, while the bold wedge indicates that the center hydrogen
is sitting out in front of the plane of the screen. The two dots above nitrogen indicate a lone
pair of electrons that are not involved in any covalent bond. We will discuss the significance of
these electrons at the end of this section. To help show this three-dimensional shape even
more accurately, we can rely on space-filling models as well as ball-and-stick models. Let's
consider both of these models for NH3:
A space-filling model, left, and a ball-and-stick model, right, for ammonia, NH3. Nitrogen atoms are depicted in blue, and
hydrogen atoms are depicted in white. 

The left-hand image shows the space-filling model for ammonia. The nitrogen atom is depicted
as the larger, central blue sphere, and the three hydrogen atoms are depicted as the smaller
white spheres off to the sides, which form a kind of tripod. The overall shape of the molecule is
a pyramid with nitrogen at the vertex and a triangular base formed by the three hydrogen
atoms. As you will learn when you study molecular shapes and molecular geometry, this type
of arrangement is known as trigonal pyramidal. The main advantage of the space-filling
model is that it gives us a sense of the relative sizes of the different atoms—nitrogen has a
larger atomic radius than hydrogen.

The right-hand image shows us the ball-and-stick model for ammonia. As you might be able to
guess, the balls represent the atoms, and the sticks that connect the balls represent the
covalent bonds between the atoms. The advantage of this type of model is that we get to see
the covalent bonds, which also allows us to more easily see the geometry of the molecule.

[Why are the hydrogen atoms in ammonia pushed downward into a tripod shape?] All
molecular geometry has to do with electron-electron repulsion. Keep in mind that in space-
filling models and in ball-and-stick models, we only show chemical bonds, not lone pairs of
electrons. In the case of ammonia, there exists a lone pair of electrons on top of the central
nitrogen atom that isn’t pictured in the three-dimensional models—but is pictured in the two-
dimensional structural model with the dashes and wedges. These electrons and the electrons
around each hydrogen atom repel each other, which pushes the hydrogen atoms down and
away, forming a tripod, or three-sided pyramid shape.

Ions and ion formation

Now that we have an understanding of covalent bonds, we can begin to discuss the other
major type of chemical bond—an ionic bond. Unlike covalent bonds, in which electron pairs
are shared between atoms, an ionic bond is formed when two oppositely charged ions attract
one another. To better illustrate this, we first need to examine the structure and formation of
ions.

Recall that neutral atoms have an equal number of protons and electrons. The result of this is
that the total positive charge of the protons exactly cancels the total negative charge of the
electrons, so that the atom itself has an overall charge, or net charge, of zero.

However, if an atom gains or loses electrons, the balance between protons and electrons is
upset,
and the
atom
becomes
an ion—a
species
with a net
charge.
Let’s first
look at
what
happens
when a
neutral
atom loses an electron:
A neutral sodium atom, Na, loses one electron to form a cation, Na+.

In
the

diagram above, we see a neutral atom of sodium, Na, losing an electron. The result is that the
sodium ion, Na+, has 11 protons, but only 10 electrons. Thus, the sodium ion has a net charge
of 1+, and it has become a cation—a positively charged ion.

Next, we’ll look at the formation of an anion—an ion with a net negative charge.

A neutral chlorine atom, Cl, gains an electron to form an anion, Cl-.

In this diagram, we see the opposite process of what we saw with the sodium atom. Here, a
neutral chlorine atom, Cl, is gaining an electron. The result is that the newly formed chloride
ion, Cl-, has 17 protons and 18 electrons. Because electrons carry a 1- charge, the net charge
on the chloride ion from the extra electron is 1-. It has become an anion, or a negatively
charged ion.

Note: When neutral atoms gain electron(s) to form anions, they are typically named with an -
ide suffix. For example, Cl- is chloride, Br- is bromide, O2- is oxide, N3- is nitride, etc.

Ionic bonds
In the last section, we looked separately at how sodium can lose an electron to form the cation
Na+ and at how chlorine can gain an electron to form the anion Cl -. In reality, however, this
process can occur all in one step when sodium gives its electron away to chlorine! We can
illustrate this as follows:
Sodium donates its electron to chlorine to form Na+  and Cl-.

Here, we can see how an electron is transferred from sodium to chlorine in order to form the
ions Na+ and Cl-. Once these ions are formed, there is a strong electrostatic attraction between
them, which leads to the formation of an ionic bond. We can see that one of the major
distinguishing factors between ionic bonds and covalent bonds is that in ionic bonds, electrons
are completely transferred, whereas in covalent bonds, electrons are shared.

[Why is the electron transferred from sodium to chlorine, and not the other way around?] As
you will soon learn, chlorine is far more electronegative than sodium. This means that chlorine
likes electrons far more than sodium does. Sodium, which is hardly electronegative at all, is
very happy to give its electron away to chlorine, which happily accepts it.

Note: As you learn more about

bonding, you will see that in actuality,
the difference between covalent and
ionic bonds is not black and white and
that the two types of bonds are actually
more like the two ends of a common
spectrum. We can think of a pure ionic
bond as having a perfectly unequal
sharing of electrons, whereas a pure covalent bond has a perfectly equal sharing of electrons.
In reality, however, most chemical bonds lie somewhere in between these two cases.

Drawing ionic bonds

We will now consider the different ways we can draw or depict ionic bonds. We will continue
looking at the most commonly known ionic compound—sodium chloride, which is best known
as table salt. A single ionic bond in sodium chloride can be shown as follows:

A structural drawing showing an ionic bond between a sodium cation, Na+, and a chloride anion, Cl-. Note that there is no
single line connecting the two ions because that would indicate shared electrons in a covalent bond. Here, electrons have
been transferred completely, and the bond is purely ionic. 

The positively charged sodium cation and the negatively charged chloride anion like to
position themselves next to each other due to their mutual electrostatic attraction. Because no

electrons are shared, we don’t depict an ionic bond with a line as we do for covalent bonds.
We simply recognize that the attraction is there due to the opposite charge signs on the ions.

The above diagram, however, is just a model. In nature, sodium chloride does not exist as a
single sodium cation bonded with a single chloride anion. As we mentioned earlier, sodium
chloride is table salt—and if we were able to use a super-powered microscope that could
examine table salt at the atomic level, we would see something like the following structure:
If we were to examine a crystal of sodium chloride at the atomic level, we would see sodium ions and chloride ions evenly
positioned next to one another in space. The orderly, stable structure is due to the strong ionic bonds between Na+  and Cl-.

We can see from this diagram that the Na+ and Cl- ions naturally position themselves next to
one another in space due to the shared electrostatic attractions between them. The ions are
then held in place by their very strong ionic bonds. The above structure is known as a crystal
lattice, and sodium chloride—like most ionic compounds—is a crystalline solid. You will learn
more about this in future lessons on the different types of solids.

Covalent vs. ionic compounds: molecules vs. formula units

Now that we’ve discussed the basics of both covalent and ionic bonding, we need to draw a
few necessary distinctions. We know that a group of atoms joined by only covalent bonds is
known as a molecule. It should be noted, however, that the word molecule should only be
used in reference to covalent compounds. In an ionic compound, such as sodium chloride,
there is no such thing as a single molecule of sodium chloride since, in reality, sodium chloride
is actually made up of multiple sodium and chloride ions joined together in a large crystal
lattice—as we saw in the previous diagram. As such, we refer to one piece of NaCl not as a
molecule but as a formula unit. Keep in mind that single formula units, unlike single molecules,
largely do not exist in nature—we simply rely on formula units for ease of reference and
convenience.

Concept check: Which type of compounds are composed of molecules—ionic or

covalent? Covalent compounds are composed of molecules.

Conclusion
All chemical bonding is due to electrostatic attraction. When atoms combine through chemical
bonding,
they form
compounds
—unique
structures
composed of
two or more
atoms. The
basic
composition
of a
compound
can be
indicated
using a
chemical
formula. A chemical formula uses symbols from the periodic table to indicate the types of
elements present in a particular compound while using subscripts to represent the number of
each type of element present.

Compounds can be covalent or ionic. In covalent compounds, atoms form covalent bonds that
consist of electron pairs shared between two adjacent atomic nuclei. An example of a covalent
compound is ammonia. The chemical formula of ammonia is NH 3, which tells us that in a
single molecule of ammonia, there is one nitrogen atom, and three hydrogen atoms. The
structure of a covalent compound can be depicted through space-filling models as well as ball-
and-stick models.
In ionic compounds, electrons are completely transferred from one atom to another so that a
cation—positively charged ion—and an anion—negatively charged ion—form. The strong
electrostatic attraction between adjacent cations and anions is known as an ionic bond. The
most common example of an ionic compound is sodium chloride NaCl, better known as table
salt. Unlike covalent compounds, there is no such thing as a molecule of an ionic compound.
This is because in nature NaCl does not exist in individual units, but in crystal lattice structures
that are composed of multiple Na+ and Cl- ions alternating in space. The chemical formula
NaCl specifies one formula unit of this compound.

Naming monatomic ions and ionic compounds

Sodium chloride is an ionic compound made up of sodium ions and chloride ions in a crystal lattice.

Atoms are electrically neutral because the number of protons, which carry a 1+ charge, in the
nucleus of an atom is equal to the number of electrons, which carry a 1- charge, in the atom.
The result is that the total positive charge of the protons cancels out the total negative charge
of the electrons so that the net charge of the atom is zero. Most atoms, however, can either
gain or lose electrons; when they do so, the number of electrons becomes different from the
number of protons in the nucleus. The resulting charged species is called an ion.

Cations and anions

When a neutral atom loses one or more electrons, the total number of electrons decreases
while the number of protons in the nucleus remains the same. The result is that the atom
becomes a cation—an ion with a net positive charge.

The opposite process can also occur. When a neutral atom gains one or more electrons, the
number of electrons increases while the number of protons in the nucleus remains the same.
The result is that the atom becomes an anion—an ion with a net negative charge. We can
illustrate this by examining some very simple cations and anions, those formed when a single
hydrogen atom loses or gains an electron.

Note: Hydrogen is actually somewhat unusual in that it readily forms both cations and anions.
Most elements much prefer to form only one or the other. In terms of its electron configuration,
can you explain why hydrogen can form both cations and anions?
 If a neutral hydrogen atom ( H, center) loses an electron, it
becomes a hydrogen cation ( H+, left). Conversely, if the
neutral  H atom gains an electron, it becomes a hydrogen
anion (  H-, right), also known as a hydride ion. 

In the center column, we have a diagram of a

single, neutral hydrogen atom. It contains
one proton and one electron; thus, its net
charge is zero. If hydrogen loses its electron, it forms the cation H+ (left column). The H+ cation
has a net charge of 1+ from the one proton in the nucleus since there are no electrons to
cancel out the positive charge. If neutral hydrogen gains an electron, it forms the
anion H- (right column). The H- anion has a net charge of 1- because it has one extra electron
compared to the total number of protons.

Concept check: A certain ion has 20 protons and 18 electrons. What kind of element is
this ion, and what is its net charge? Because the ion has 20 protons, the element in

question must be calcium, Ca, which has an atomic number of 20. The 20 protons contribute a
total charge of 20+, and 18 electrons contribute a total charge of 18-:

Thus, the net charge on the ion will be 2+. We can write the symbol for the calcium 2+ cation
as follows: Ca2+.

Predicting charges on monatomic cations and anions

Did you know that you can use the periodic table to predict the charges certain elements will
have when they ionize? This is a very convenient and powerful tool, so it's worth examining in
some detail. The following figure summarizes the common charges for the elements in the
eight main groups, or families, on the periodic table. Remember that periodic groups refer to
columns on the periodic table, whereas rows are known as periods. Keep in mind that these
charges only apply when these elements are found in ionic compounds since covalent
compounds don't contain ions.

[What is the difference between covalent and ionic compounds?] Ionic compounds are made
up of ions, which are held together by ionic bonds between ions of opposite charge. In
covalent compounds, however, electrons are shared in covalent bonds, so there are no true
ions with full charges on them. Elements in covalent compounds, however, can be
assigned oxidation states or oxidation numbers, which are similar to an apparent charge.
We can consider oxidation numbers to be what the charge on the element would be if the
electrons in the covalent bond were completely transferred to the more electronegative atom.
That said, it is important to realize that the distinction between ionic bonds and covalent bonds
isn't always clear. Instead of thinking about all compounds as falling into one of two
categories, it is more accurate to think of a continuum between ionic and covalent bonds, and
compounds. Many compounds contain bonds with some fraction of covalent character as well
as some ionic character.

For Group 14 elements, forming cations with a 4+ charge is much more common than forming anions with a 4- charge.
Carbon, however, can form both types of ions, so we include both charges here.

As a general rule of thumb, the main group elements will usually gain or lose electrons in order
to get a full octet of valence electrons. By figuring out how many electrons an element is likely
to lose or gain to reach a full octet, we can predict the charge on the ion. This requires first
knowing how many valence electrons are in the neutral atom.

Tip: The number of valence electrons in the neutral atom is equal to the number in the 1s
place in the new IUPAC group number.

Elements that form cations

For groups 1, 2, 13, and 14, the elements have one to four valence electrons as neutral
atoms, and they will usually give away these valence electrons to become ions—carbon is
sometimes an exception to this trend since it can also gain four electrons to form the C4- anion.
Since the resulting ion has fewer electrons than protons, the net charge on the ion is positive.
The magnitude of the charge is equal to the number of electrons lost, which is equal to the
number of valence electrons in the neutral atom.
For example, what if we wanted to predict the charge on an aluminum ion? Aluminum is in
group 13, or IIIA. Since the group number, 13, has the number 3 in the 1s place, we would
predict the charge to be 3+ to give Al3+. We can also think about a neutral aluminum atom
losing its three valence electrons to become Al3+, which has a full octet.

[Can we relate this to electron configuration?] Yup! When we talk about atoms losing or
gaining electrons in order to get to a full octet, we can also think of this process as the atom
losing or gaining electrons to get to the same electron configuration as the nearest noble gas.
For our current example, the Al3+  ion has the same electron configuration as the noble gas
neon, Ne. They both have the following electron configuration: 1s 22s22p6.

Elements that form anions

For groups 15 through 17, the charge is usually negative because these elements are more
likely to gain than lose electrons. The charge on the ion is therefore equal in magnitude to the
number of electrons gained to reach a full octet of eight valence electrons. Mathematically, we
can calculate the magnitude of the charge by subtracting the number of valence electrons in
the neutral atom from eight. We can also use the periodic table to count how many columns to
the right we need to go to reach the noble gases, group 18, where each adjacent column
counts as one electron that needs to be gained to reach the full octet.

If we use these guidelines to predict the charge on a sulfur ion, which is in group 16, we
predict that the magnitude of the charge is 8 - 6 = 2 since sulfur has six valence electrons. We
can also find the number of valence electrons by checking sulfur's group number, group 16,
which has a 6 in the 1s place. That means that a neutral sulfur atom will need to gain two
electrons to reach a full octet of eight electrons. Therefore, we predict that the most common
charge on a sulfur ion will be 2-.

Concept check: What ionic compound would you predict to form in a reaction between
potassium metal and liquid bromine? Potassium metal is a group 1 alkali metal and
therefore usually forms cations with a 1+ charge, namely, K+. Bromine, as a group 17 halogen,
usually forms anions with a 1- charge, namely, Br-. Because the charges on these ions are
equal and opposite, they will combine in a 1:1 ratio so that their charges exactly cancel.
Therefore, we predict that the ionic compound formed will be KBr, potassium bromide.

Naming cations

Now that we know that many common elements take on predictable charges, let's consider
how to name the ions. We'll first look at the alkali metals—the elements in group 1 on the
periodic table. From the figure above, we can see that the alkali metals tend to form cations
with a 1+ charge. Thus, these cations include H+, Li+, Na+, K+, and so on. Naming these types
of cations requires no special rule. For instance, we can refer to a hydrogen cation, H+ , simply
by calling it “H-plus” or a “hydrogen ion”. Similarly, a sodium cation, Na +, can be called “Na-
plus”, "sodium plus", or most commonly, a "sodium ion". Note that it is unnecessary to say "a
one plus sodium ion", because it is understood that a sodium ion usually has a 1+ charge.

The same logic also applies to all other elements that typically form cations of one particular
charge. For instance, the alkaline earth metals, group 2, form cations with a charge of 2+:
Be2+, Mg2+, Ca2+, etc. While we often refer to an ion such as Mg 2+ as "magnesium two-plus", we
could also simply say "magnesium ion", since it's understood what the charge on a
magnesium ion is.

Note: The discussion in this section is mainly for naming cations by themselves, and the
naming convention will be slightly different when the cation is part of an ionic compound.

Elements that form multiple types of cations

So far, we have considered elements that typically form cations of one particular charge. For
example, the alkali metals and the alkaline earth metals usually form 1+ ions and 2+ ions,
respectively. Most transition metals, however, can form cations of various charges. That is
why the d-block of the periodic table figure above has been labeled "variable charges". Iron,
for instance, is often found as both the Fe2+ and Fe3+ cations, and sometimes other charges as
well. Thus, iron is polyvalent, which literally means "many valued"—it is able to form cations
of different charges.

Chromium commonly forms compounds as Cr2+ and Cr3+. Chromium(II) chloride, on the left, is a grey-green solid
with very different properties and reactivity compared to chromium(III) chloride, the bright purple solid on the
right. Thus, it is important to specify which one you are referring to!

For metals that are polyvalent, we need to specify the magnitude of the charge on the ion. For
instance, we have to call Fe2+  "iron two-plus" or "iron two" because simply referring to it as
"iron ion" will not give enough information to specify the type of cation. Most of the transition
metals—those metals in the center d-block of the periodic table—are polyvalent. Since they
can form cations with different charges, those charges must be specified when naming the
ions and when naming compounds containing those ions.

In ionic compounds, the magnitude of

the charge for a transition metal
cation is usually included using
Roman numerals in parentheses after
the name of the metal, such as for
chromium(II) chloride which contains
Cr2+. Naming ionic compounds
containing transition metal cations will
be discussed in more detail in a
separate section below.

Naming monatomic anions

Most often, when we name

monatomic anions, we add the suffix
-ide to the end of the element's name.
Because we can predict the charge
on simple cations and anions based
on an element's group number, it is
not necessary to specify the
magnitude of the charge on an anion
most of the time. The following table shows how the suffix applies to naming anions of various
elements:

Formulas and naming of basic ionic compounds

Now that we've seen the naming conventions for cations and anions, we can discuss how they
apply to naming simple ionic compounds made up of monatomic ions. The following guidelines
can be used for naming ionic compounds:

 Always name the cation before the anion; in the chemical formula, the cation will always
appear first as well.
  When naming the cation within an ionic
compound, we don't include the word ion or
the charge unless it is a polyvalent cation.
That means we only have to name the
element that the ion came from
(see Example 2 below).
 Any ionic compound will have a net charge
of zero. Another way of saying this is that
cations and anions must always combine in
such a way so that their charges cancel.
 The number of cations and anions in the
formula should be written as the lowest
possible integer value. For example, the
formula for sodium chloride is NaCl, not Na2Cl2 or some other multiple of NaCl, even
though the charges would still add up to zero.

Let's look at a few more examples:

Example 1: Finding the chemical formula from the name

What is the chemical formula of potassium chloride?

Remember that potassium is a group 1 element that forms a 1+ ion. Chloride, by

definition, is an anion that has formed from an atom of chlorine. Since chlorine is in group
17, it will form a 1- anion. Because their charges are equal and opposite, there will be one
K+ ion for every one Cl- anion, and the chemical formula will be KCl. Remember that
subscripts are not used when there is only one atom/ion of a particular type.

Example 2: Finding the name from the chemical formula

What is the name of the ionic compound Mg3P2?

Magnesium, Mg, is a group 2 element that will form 2+ cations. Because it usually forms
cations of only one type, we don't need to specify its charge. We can simply refer to the
cation in the ionic compound as magnesium. Phosphorus, P, is a group 15 element and
therefore forms 3- anions. Because it is an anion, we add the suffix -ide to its name to get
phosphide as the name of the ion. Therefore, the name for the compound is magnesium
phosphide.

Naming ionic compounds with polyvalent cations

Recall from our earlier discussion that if an element can form more than one type of
cation, we have to specify the charge on that cation. The magnitude of the charge for a
transition metal cation is usually indicated using Roman numerals in parentheses after the
name of the metal—this is also called the systematic name of the ion. The following table
lists some of
the most
common ions
for polyvalent
metals. The
systematic
name is
included for all
ions. For some
ions, the
common or
trivial name is
also given. The
common or
trivial names
are somewhat
old fashioned
nowadays, but
they're still
used in some places, so they're helpful to know. Notice that the ions of lesser charge take
the suffix -ous in the common name; ions of higher charge take the -ic suffix. For example,
ferrous chloride (FeCl2) is the name of Fe2+, while ferric chloride (FeCl3) is understood to
contain Fe3+.

Using this table as a reference, let's look at how to name ionic compounds containing
polyvalent metals.

Example 3: Naming compounds containing polyvalent cations

What is the name of the compound PbCl4?

When naming ionic compounds that contain transition metals, we first need to determine
the charge on the transition metal cation. We can deduce this charge by first calculating
the charge contributed by the anion, whose charge we already know for sure.

We recognize that Cl is a group 17 halogen, so it forms the chloride anion Cl -. We can see
from the chemical formula PbCl4 that there are four chloride ions in the compound. The
total negative charge contributed by the four chloride ions is calculated below:

Total charge from anions = 4 x (1-) = 4-

 In order for the compound to be electrically neutral, the lead cation must be Pb 4+ . This is
because the 4+ charge on this ion will exactly cancel the net 4- charge contributed by the
four chloride ions.

Therefore, the name of PbCl4 is lead(IV) chloride.

Conclusion

Cations are positively charged ions formed when neutral atoms lose electrons; anions are
negatively charged
ions formed when
neutral atoms gain
electrons. It is possible
to predict the charges
of common monatomic
ions by looking at the
group numbers on the
periodic table.
However, many of the
transition metals are
polyvalent, which
means they can form
cations of multiple
charges. When naming these cations or compounds containing these cations, it is
necessary to specify their charge.

Cations and anions combine to form ionic compounds. Ionic compounds are named with
the cation first and the anion last. The same convention is used when writing their
chemical formulas. Ionic compounds must be electrically neutral. Therefore, the cations
and anions must combine in such a way that the net charge contributed by the total
number of cations exactly cancels the net charge contributed by the total number of
anions.

Polyatomic ions
In this article, we will discuss polyatomic ions. The prefix poly- means many, so a polyatomic
ion is an ion that contains more than one atom. This differentiates polyatomic ions
from monatomic ions, which contain only one atom. Examples of monatomic ions include
Na+, Fe3+, Cl-, and many, many others. This article assumes you have a knowledge of basic
monatomic ions as well as the conventions for naming ionic compounds and writing their
chemical formulas.

Polyatomic ions are everywhere! Chalk is made up of calcium carbonate, CaCO3, which contains calcium
cations, Ca2+, and carbonate anions, CO32-, which are polyatomic ions.

Structure of polyatomic ions

We can think about polyatomic ions by comparing them to monatomic ions. A monatomic ion
is an atom that has been ionized by gaining or losing electrons. The ion has a net charge
because the total number of electrons is not balanced by the total number of protons in the
nucleus. Thus, compared to the neutral atom, we have extra electrons—in the case of a
negatively charged anion—or not enough electrons—in the case of a positively charged
cation. For example, a neutral chlorine atom has an atomic number of 17, which means it has
17 protons and 17 electrons. The neutral atom will sometimes gain an extra electron to
become the chloride anion, Cl-:

After gaining an electron, the chloride anion has 17 protons and 18 electrons. Since there is
one extra electron compared to the number of protons, the ion has a net charge of 1-.

Similarly, we can think of a polyatomic ion as a molecule that has been ionized by gaining or
losing electrons. In a polyatomic ion, the group of covalently bonded atoms carries a net
charge because the total number of electrons in the molecule is not equal to the total number
of protons in the molecule. When drawing Lewis dot structures, the overall charge on a
polyatomic ion is equal to the sum of the formal charges on each atom in the ion.

[What is formal charge?] Formal

charge is a concept chemists use to
write the most likely—or most stable—
Lewis dot structures. The formal
charge is a localized charge on an
atom within a molecule or polyatomic
ion.

The Lewis dot structure for the hydroxide ion. Dots around O indicate three lone pairs, and the line between H
and O represents a covalent bond containing two shared electrons. The overall charge on the polyatomic ion is
1-, which is indicated to the upper right outside the brackets.

For example, let's consider the polyatomic ion OH-, which is known as hydroxide. On the left
we see the dot structure of the hydroxide ion. It contains one oxygen atom and one hydrogen
atom. The single line between them represents the covalent bond, which contains two
electrons shared between H and O. The dots around O represent lone pairs of electrons. In
hydroxide, the oxygen has three lone pairs of electrons, which makes for six lone pair
electrons in total.

The net charge on the hydroxide ion is indicated by

putting the entire dot structure inside square brackets with
the charge on the upper right. We see that hydroxide has
a 1- charge, which means the ion has one more electron
than there are protons in the nuclei of a hydrogen atom
plus an oxygen atom.

Concept check: How many protons and electrons are in a hydroxide ion? We can
calculate the total number of protons in a hydroxide ion by adding up the number of protons in
one hydrogen atom and one oxygen atom:

In a neutral molecule, the number of protons is equal to the number of electrons. Since
hydroxide has a net 1- charge, we know there must be an extra electron overall compared to
the number of protons. Therefore, the hydroxide ion has nine protons and ten electrons.

Common polyatomic ions

Polyatomic ions are everywhere! Bicarbonate ions,
HCO-3, help maintain the pH level of our blood, while
phosphates, PO3-4, are extremely important in various
metabolic processes. Being familiar with the names,
charges, and formulas of the most common polyatomic
 ions will be helpful for recognizing
ionic compounds and predicting
their reactivity. The following table
lists some of the common
polyatomic ions.

* An informal but commonly used

name.

We will be referring to the

polyatomic ions in this table for
the remainder of the article!

[How can I remember SO MANY

ions?!] We know this is a long list
of ions, but there are actually patterns to how many of these polyatomic ions are named.
Learning these patterns will be far more helpful to you in remembering the ions than just trying
to memorize them all.

Names and chemical formulas of compounds containing polyatomic

ions
You can probably find polyatomic ions in your kitchen! Baking soda is a common name for sodium bicarbonate,
NaHCO3, which contains the bicarbonate ion HCO-3.

Now that we have a reference for many of the common polyatomic ions, let's look at how to
name and write the chemical formulas for compounds that contain them. There are two main
things to keep in mind:
1.
1. If a compound contains more than one polyatomic ion of the same type, we need to place
parentheses around the ion's formula before using a subscript to indicate how many ions of

that type are in the compound.

2. The overall charge for the ionic compound must be neutral, which means the sum of the
charges from the cations and anions should add up to zero. We can use this rule to figure out
the formula of an ionic compound when we know the charge on the anion and the cation. This
rule can also be useful for deducing the charge of an ion when the chemical formula for the
ionic compound is known.

Example 1: Finding the chemical formula from the compound name

What is the chemical formula for calcium hydroxide?

Calcium is an alkaline earth metal—Group 2 on the periodic table—so it forms ions with a 2+
charge. From our table, we know that hydroxide has the formula OH- and that it carries a 1-
charge. We will need two hydroxide ions to exactly cancel the 2+ charge on Ca2+. When
writing out the formula, we include parentheses around OH followed by a subscript of 2, to
make it clear that there are two hydroxide ions for every Ca 2+ cation. Thus, the chemical
formula for the compound is Ca(OH)2.

Concept check: Why would CaOH2 be the incorrect formula for calcium hydroxide? The
formula CaOH2 indicates a calcium cation bonded with one O atom and two H atoms.
However, this is not the case with calcium hydroxide! Parentheses are necessary because
hydroxide, OH-, is a polyatomic ion. It helps to
consider polyatomic ions as distinct structural
units within ionic compounds−you can't split
them apart. The takeaway is this: if an ionic
compound contains more than one polyatomic
ion of the same type, make sure to use
parentheses to indicate this in your chemical
formula!

Example 2: Naming ionic compounds that contain polyatomic ions

What is the name of the compound with the formula Ni3(PO4)2? When naming ionic
compounds, it helps to first break down the formula into the cation(s) and the anion(s). In this
compound, the cation is based on nickel. Nickel is a transition metal that can form multiple
kinds of cations with different charges. That means we will need to figure out the charge on
the nickel ion in this specific compound so that we can specify it when naming the ionic
compound! Luckily, we know the charge on the anion: phosphate is a polyatomic ion that
always has a charge of 3-. Since the overall charge for an ionic compound is zero, we can use
the chemical formula and the charge on phosphate to calculate the charge on the nickel ion:

Net charge = 0 = ( # cations x cation charge ) + ( # anions x anion charge )

If we rearrange this equation, we see that the sum of the charges from the cations must be
equal to -1 times the sum of the charges from the anions.

# cations x cation charge = -1 x ( # anions x anion charge )

We can plug in the known values for the number of cations and anions—from the chemical
formula—and the anion charge, then solve for the charge on nickel:

Now we know the cation in our compound is nickel(II). To name the whole compound, we start
with the cation name with the charge included in parentheses using Roman numerals,
followed by the anion name.

Therefore, the name of the compound is nickel(II) phosphate.

Example 3: Breaking apart an ionic compound into ions

What are the constituent ions in the ionic compound Ca(MnO4)2?

Specify the formula, charge, and number of each ion.

When analyzing the formula of an ionic compound, we first look for the formulas of familiar
ions. In this case, we notice that MnO-4 , permanganate, is one of the polyatomic ions listed in
our table above. In this compound, we see that we have two ions of permanganate.

[How do you know there are two ions of permanganate?] The parentheses around the formula
MnO4 indicate that everything within the parentheses is part of a distinct unit and that the
compound contains more than one polyatomic ion of this type. The subscript after the
parentheses, 2, indicates that there are two permanganate ions.

Because permanganate carries a 1- charge, this means it is contributing a net charge of 2 x

(1-) = 2- to the ionic compound. Recall that in all ionic compounds, the net charge of the
compound must be zero. Therefore, calcium must be present as the cation Ca 2+ in order to
balance out the 2- net charge from the two MnO-4 ions.

To check our reasoning, we can ask ourselves, "Does calcium typically form cations with a 2+
charge?" Because Ca is a Group 2 metal, it will typically lose two electrons to form 2+ cations.
Thus our answer is consistent with our knowledge of chemical reactivity, yay!

Therefore, the ionic compound Ca(MnO4)2 contains one Ca2+ cation and two MnO-4 anions.

It is often useful to be able to break down an ionic compound into the constituent ions. One
example of such a situation is when an ionic compound is dissolved in water for a reaction.
Many ionic compounds are water-soluble, and the constituent ions dissociate when in solution.
The dissociated ions can then go off and participate in their own chemistry independently of
the other ions in the original ionic compound.

Conclusion
Just as ions are formed when neutral atoms gain or lose electrons, a polyatomic ion is formed
when a neutral molecule gains or loses electrons. Therefore, a polyatomic ion is a group of
covalently bonded atoms that carries a net charge due to the fact that the total number of
electrons in the molecule is not equal to the total number of protons in the molecule. In the
Lewis dot structure of a polyatomic ion, the sum of the formal charges on all the atoms must
equal the net charge on the ion.

Being familiar with the most common polyatomic ions will be helpful for recognizing ionic
compounds and predicting their reactivity. While learning all the polyatomic ions can seem
daunting, there are patterns to the formulas, names, and charges of many ions. These
patterns can be learned, so you don't have to simply memorize all the ions.