STUDENT NOTES Pre-AP Chemistry KEY U N I T 4 | Page 1

UNIT 5 NOTES: WRITING FORMULAS AND NAMING COMPOUNDS

I. INTRODUCTION – IONIC, COVALENT & ACIDIC COMPOUNDS

 An ionic compound is composed of ions held together by electrostatic forces termed ionic bonding.
o The compound is neutral overall, but consists of positively charged ions called cations and negatively
charged ions called anions.

o Ionic bonding electrons are EXCHANGED: Metals are LOSERS and non-metals are WINNERS in the
electron world!

o Ionic compounds contain (in this order):

Cation (+ ion, lost e- ‘s ) & Anion (− ion, gained e- ‘s)

Metal & Non-metal
Metal & Polyatomic
Ammonium (NH4+) & Non-metal
Ammonium (NH4+) & Polyatomic

 A covalent compound involves the sharing of electron pairs between atoms. The stable balance of attractive
and repulsive forces between atoms, when they share electrons, is known as covalent bonding.

o Covalent bonding electrons are SHARED: sometimes evenly and sometimes unevenly (one element gets
a little greedy with the electrons)!

o Covalent bonds are typically between two or more non-metal atoms.

 An acid is a compound that is capable of donating a proton (or hydrogen ion H +).

o When the acid donates a proton, it dissociates (breaks apart) into a hydrogen ion and an anion, so it
behaves like an ionic compound when dissolved in water (aq) but is a type of covalent compound.

Acid compounds typically begin with one or more hydrogen

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IONIC COMPOUNDS
One of the most important concepts to understand when naming and writing ionic compounds is the
concept of charge. You must be able to predict which ions will have which charge. Therefore, let’s have
a little review!

Fill in the charge (or charges) for each of the following groups.

Group Metal or Non-Metal? Lose or Gain Electrons? Charge(s)?

Group 1 Metal Lose 1 electron +1

Group 2 Metal Lose 2 electrons +2

Group 13 Metal Lose 3 electrons +3

Non-Metal Gain 4 electrons -4
Group 14 Pb or Sn
Metal Lose 2 or 4 electrons
+2/+4
Non-Metal Gain 3 electrons -3
Group 15
Metal Lose 3 or 5 electrons Bi +3/+5
Group 16 Non-Metal Gain 2 electrons -2
Group 17 Non-Metal Gain 1 electron -1

We also have three elements in the transition metal section which always have a set charge.
You will eventually need to make sure you have these memorized.

Binary means 2 types of

Ag +1
Zn+2 Cd+2 elements! Not 2 total
atoms.
A. Binary Ionic Compounds
Now that you know which elements have which charge, we are ready to start
writing formulas of ionic compounds! Remember from our last unit that we
represent ionic compounds as the lowest whole number ratio of atoms that make a
NEUTRAL formula unit! The goal of ionic compounds is to make electrons
lost equal electrons gained – or, in other words, TO MAKE CHARGES
CANCEL OUT. Therefore, you might need more than one of an element to make
them cancel!
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If you need more than one of an element, you will use a subscript to indicate how many you need. We do
not show a subscript if only one of that element is needed. Also, in the final formula, charges are not
shown – the subscripts are indicating that charges are canceling out, so we don’t need to show them!

Remember “-ide” means Notice no charges

single element anion are shown in the
EXCEPT hydroxide and final compound!
cyanide

Elements Ions Make Charges Cancel! Final Formula

+2 -1 -1 = 0
Calcium chloride Ca2+ and Cl1- CaCl2
(need 1 Ca 2+ and 2 Cl 1-)
+3 +3 -2 -2 -2 = 0 Al2O3
Aluminum oxide Al3+ and O2- (need 2 Al3+ and 3 O 2-)

Lithium fluoride Li1+ and F1- Li1+ F1- LiF

Magnesium phosphide Mg 2+
and P 3-
Mg Mg
2+ 2+
Mg 2+
P 3-
P 3-
Mg3P2
Zinc iodide Zn 2+
and I 1-
Zn 2+
I 1-
I
1-
ZnI2
Gallium bromide Ga 3+
and Br 1-
Ga 3+
Br 1-
Br1- Br1- GaBr3
Potassium sulfide K1+ and S2- K1+ K1+ S2- K2S
Silver bromide Ag1+ and Br- Ag1+ Br- AgBr

NOTICE HOW CATIONS (metals) GO FIRST AND ANIONS (non-metals) GO

SECOND! We always write the positive ions first and the negative ions second.
We name in the same order as well.

─IONS before ANIONS!

Now, let’s talk about how to name compounds! For BINARY (2-element) ionic compounds where
there is only one possible charge for the element, this process is very easy. Simply name the metal, then
name the non-metal with an “–ide” ending.

Formula Name
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CaCl2 Calcium chloride

Al2O3 Aluminum oxide

Na2O Sodium oxide

BaI2 Barium iodide

B. Binary Ionic Compounds WITH those WEIRD Transition metals!

So far, we’ve only looked at ionic compounds where the elements have
only one possible charge for their ions. However, we have several
metals that can have more than one charge for their ions! The metals
that like to have more than one charge for their ions are
most of the transition metals, and the metals of groups 14
and 15. Therefore, we need to show which charge was used for the
metal when we write the name of the compound. We do this by placing
the charge of the metal as a roman numeral directly after the metal’s
name. We name the non-metal with the “–ide” ending.

Find the final formula for each compound. These examples are using elements that have more
than one possible charge for the metal ion.
But why is there no roman
numeral charge for the oxide?

The (III) tells

us that iron has Because oxygen only has one
a +3 charge! possible charge for his ion!

Compound Ions Make Charges Cancel! Final Formula

+3 +3 -2 -2 -2 = 0
Iron (III) oxide Fe+3 and O-2 Fe2O3
(need 2 Fe+3 and 3 O-2)
+4 -1 -1 -1 -1 = 0
Tin (IV) chloride Sn+4 and Cl-1 SnCl4
(need 1 Sn+4 and 4 Cl-1)
Lead (IV) oxide Pb+4 and O-2 Pb4+ O2- O2- PbO2
Bismuth (III) sulfide Bi3+ and S2- Bi 3+
Bi 3+
S2-
S2-
S2-
Bi2S3

Now that you’ve seen how the roman numerals work in the forward direction, it’s time to try it out in the
backwards direction. This gets a little bit harder. First, when you see an ionic compound, identify if the
metal has more than one possible charge or not. If it does have more than one possible charge, use the
STUDENT NOTES Pre-AP Chemistry U N I T 4 | Page 5
non-metal to figure out the charge of the metal. Remember, charges must cancel out to zero! Then, to
name the compound, (1) name the metal, (2) place the charge of the metal using roman numerals in
brackets, and (3) name the non-metal using the “–ide” ending.

Name the following binary ionic compounds. These examples are using elements that all have more
than one possible charge for the metal ion.

Non-Metal Ion Name

Formula Find Charge of Metal
with Charge (use roman numeral for charge!)
Pb -1 -1 = 0
PbCl2 Cl-1 Pb = 2+ Lead (II) chloride
(so, Pb has 2+ charge)
Cu + Cu -2 = 0
Cu2S S-2 Cu = 1+ Copper (I) sulfide
(so, Cu has 1+ charge)
Sn -2 = 0
SnO S-2 Sn = 2+ Tin (II) oxide
(so, Sn has 2+ charge)
Co -1 -1 -1= 0
F1-
CoF3 Co = 3+ Cobalt (III) fluoride
(so, Co has 3+ charge)

C. Ternary Ionic Compounds USING POLYATOMIC IONS!

Finally, we need to learn how to name and write compounds that have polyatomic ions as part of the
formula. Luckily for us, this is not much different than what we’ve already learned! By the way, these
are called TERNARY ionic compounds because they have three or more elements. With formula
writing, the process is the same as it was with binary ionic compounds – the only difference is that if you
need more than one of a polyatomic ion, we use parentheses before we put the final subscript.

Find the final formula for each of the following compounds. Notice parentheses were used when more
than one polyatomic ion was needed!

Compound Ions Make Charges Cancel! Final Formula

+3 -1 -1 -1 = 0
Aluminum nitrate Al3+ and NO31- Al(NO3)3
(need 1 Al+3 and 3 NO3-1)
+1 +1 +1 -3 = 0
Ammonium phosphate NH41+ and PO43- (NH4)3PO4
(need 3 NH4+1 and 1 PO4-3)

Calcium hydroxide Ca+2 and OH1- Ca+2 OH1- OH1- Ca(OH)2

Copper (II) sulfate Cu2+ and SO42- Cu2+ SO42- CuSO4
Zn 2+
ClO 1-
ClO 1-

Zn(ClO3)2
3 3
Zinc chlorate
Zn and ClO3
2+ 1-

Naming Flowchart to help with Ionic Compound naming:

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Ionic
Com pound
NOTICE HOW IMPORTANT
SPELLING IS!!!!!
Me tal + n on meta l Me tal + p ol y i on
NH4 + + n on me tal NH 4 + + p ol y i o n
Ammonium Chloride: NH4Cl

Ammonium Chlorate: NH4ClO3

1 . Name me ta l or
1 . Name me ta l or
a mmo ni u m
a mmo ni u m Ammonium Chlorite: NH4ClO2
2 . Name no n-m etal with
2 . Name po l yato mi c i on
"-i de " e n di ng

-ATE and –ITE endings indicate

If m etal h as mo re tha n o ne p ossib l e POLYATOMIC IONS.
o xi da ti o n n umb e r, sho w usi ng
rom an n u mera ls
(Grou p 3 -1 5 me tal s, excep t
-IDE endings indicate non-metal ions,
Al +3 , Zn +2 , Ag+1 , & Cd +2 ) except cyanide and hydroxide.

D. Ionic Compounds that are HYDRATES

Hydrates are ionic compounds that have #
# Waters PREFIX PREFIX
trapped water in their crystal structure. They Waters
have different physical properties from the 1 mono- 6 hexa-
anhydrate form. 2 di- 7 hepta-
 Use covalent prefixes to indicate the 3 tri- 8 octa-
number of waters that are bound 4 tetra- 9 nona-
when writing the name. 5 penta- 10 deca-
 Use a “•” (dot) to show how many waters are bound when writing the formula.

FORMULA NAME Note that you need

to include roman
Cu2SO3 • 3H2O Copper (I) sulfite trihydrate numerals because

Na2SO4 • 10H2O Sodium sulfate decahydrate copper has more

than one oxidation
LiNO3 • 3H2O Lithium nitrate trihydrate number!

NAME FORMULA
Zinc sulfate heptahydrate ZnSO4 • 7H2O
Cobalt (II) fluoride
CoF2•4H2O
tetrahydrate
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COVALENT MOLECULES

A. INORGANIC Covalent Molecules

A binary covalent compound is composed of two different nonmetal elements. For example, a
molecule of chlorine trifluoride, ClF3 contains 1 atom of chlorine and 3 atoms of fluorine.

STEPS TO NAMING:
Step 1: Name the first non-metal using a prefix to indicate how many of that element was in
the compound.
Step 2: Name the second non-metal using a prefix and add the suffix -ide to the end of the
name of the element.

#
# ATOMS PREFIX PREFIX
ATOMS
1 mono- 6 hexa-
2 di- 7 hepta- You will be tempted to use
3 tri- 8 octa- prefixes when naming ionics.
DO NOT GIVE IN TO THE
4 tetra- 9 nona-
TEMPTATION!
5 penta- 10 deca-
EXCEPTION: If the compound
contains one atom of the element that is written first in the name, the prefix "mono-" is
not used.
Note: when the addition of the Greek prefix places two vowels adjacent to one another, the "o"
at the end of the Greek prefix is usually dropped; "monooxide" would be written as "monoxide".
The "i" at the end of the prefixes "di-" and "tri-" are never dropped.

FORMULA NAME
There is one carbon,
CO 2 Carbon dioxide but since it is the first
element, we don’t use
the prefix “mono”.
N2O3 Dinitrogen trioxide There are two oxygens,
so we use the prefix
SO 3 Sulfur trioxide “di” and change the
ending to “ide” – just
like with binary ionics!)
BBr 3 Boron Tribromide

Si 2 Br 6 Disilicon Hexabromide
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P4O10 Tetraphosphorus Decaoxide

NAME PREFIXES FORMULA

Dinitrogen pentoxide di = 2, pent = 5 N2O5

Chlorine monofluoride Mono – 1 ClF

Nitrogen trifluoride Tri -3 NF3

Triboron hexachloride Tri – 3 hexa - 6 B3Cl6

B. ORGANIC Covalent Compounds

 We will be using organic compounds which contain carbon and hydrogen only, called hydrocarbons.
 The compounds will be of two general types—straight chain and cyclic.
 Straight chain hydrocarbons will always fit the general formula. CnH2n+2 and their names must be
memorized (but they are very intuitive after the first four). These names end in “-ane”
 A cyclic hydrocarbon can be recognized by the fact that it will fit the general formula CnH2n, and
the same type of naming system will be used EXCEPT that the prefix “cyclo” will be placed in
front of the name.

HINT for the first 4:

Mom Eats Peanut Butter
1 meth- 6 hex-
Meth, Eth, Prop, But 2 eth- 7 hept-
3 prop- 8 oct-
4 but- 9 non-
5 pent- 1 dec- Butane, C4H10
0

SUMMARY:
 They all end in “ane”!
 Put a prefix in front of “ane” to indicate carbons.
 If #H = (2 x #C) + 2 more, then you are done! Cyclobutane, C4H8
 If #H = (2 x #C), add “cyclo” at the beginning.

Octane C8H18 C2H6 Ethane

Cyclopropane C3H6 C10H20 Cyclodecane

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Cyclopentane C5H10 C9H20 Nonane

Heptane C7H16 C8H16 Cyclooctane

ACIDS
We tend to place acids into their own category, as they follow their own set of rules. Acids are
always aqueous solutions (aq). An example is HCl (aq) – named hydrochloric acid. If the
substance is a gas (such as HCl (g)), then use your ionic naming rules – i.e. hydrogen chloride.
1. Naming Acids:
 Name the anion present in the acid.
 Change the suffix of the anion according the chart below
 Add the word “acid” as a last name.
 If the acid has sulfur or phosphorus, we add the “ur” and “or” back into the name.
Ex. H2SO3  sulfite  sulfurous acid

Formula of Acid Anion Name Acid Name

I ate something
H + non-metal _____ide Hydro___ic acid icky, all nite I was
H + poly ion (per-ate) Per_____ate Per_____ic acid nauseous, when I
took a ride on a
H + poly ion (-ate) _____ate _____ic acid
hydraulic plane!
H + poly ion (-ite) _____ite _____ous acid
H + poly ion (hypo-ite) Hypo____ite Hypo___ous acid

FORMULA ANION NAME ACID NAME

HNO2 (aq) Nitrite Nitrous acid

HF (aq) Fluoride Hydrofluoric Acid

H3PO3 (aq) Phosphite Phosphorous Acid
HIO4 (aq) Periodate Periodic Acid
2. Writing Acid Formulas:
 Change the acid suffix to an anion suffix
 Write the anion formula
 Add enough “H+1” to balance out the charge on the anion
ANION ACID FORMULA
ACID NAME ANION NAME
FORMULA Add H+ to anion
Phosphoric acid Phosphate ( ic = ate ) PO43- H3PO4
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Perbromic acid Perbromate ( ic = ate ) BrO41- HBrO4
Acetic acid Aceate ( ic = ate ) C2H3O21- HC2H3O2
Using the Flow Chart for Chemical Nomenclature
Formula of Ionic, If IONIC: Metal have more than one Name of Compound
Compound Covalent, charge? (Need roman # ?)
or Acid? If COVALENT: Is the molecule organic?

K2CO3 Ionic No Roman (Group 1A) Potassium carbonate

ZnO Ionic No Roman (Zn2+) Zinc oxide

C7H16 Covalent Organic (no double) Heptane

Bi(BrO2)5 Ionic Roman Bi -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 = 0 (Bi = 5+) Bismuth (V) bromite

HBr (aq) Acid Acid (-ide to hydro-ic) Hydrobromic acid

MgSO4 • 7 H2O Ionic No Roman (Group 2A) Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate

H3PO4 (aq) Acid Acid (-ate to –ic) Phosphoric Acid

N2O Covalent Inorganic Dinitrogen monoxide

USe3 Ionic Roman U -2 -2 -2 = 0 (U = 6+) Uranium (VI) selenide

NH4ClO4 Ionic No Roman (NH4+) Ammonium perchlorate

Cd(MnO4)2 Ionic No Roman (Cd2+) Cadmium permanganate

Name of Compound Ionic, If IONIC or ACID: If IONIC or ACID: Charge Formula of
Covalent, Charge of ions? Cancellation Compound
or Acid? If COVALENT:
organic?

Cyclononane Covalent Organic (double) -------- C9H18

Tin (IV) sulfite Ionic Sn4+ and SO32- Sn4+SO32-SO32- Sn(SO3)2

Hydronitric acid Acid H+ and N3- H+ H+ H+ N3- H3N (aq)

Ammonium Sulfide Ionic NH4+ and S2- NH4+ NH4+ S2- (NH4)2S

Phosphorous pentachloride Covalent inorganic ---------- PCl5

Strontium hydroxide Ionic Sr2+ and OH- Sr2+ OH- OH- Sr(OH)2

Sulfurous acid Acid H+ and SO32- H+ H+ SO32- H2SO3 (aq)

Nickel (II) cyanide

Ionic Ni2+ and CN- Ni2+ CN- CN- Ni(CN)2•4H2O
tetrahydrate

Aluminum Dichromate Ionic Al3+ and Cr2O72- Al3+Al3+Cr2O72- Cr2O72-Cr2O72- Al2( Cr2O7)3
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Cesium bicarbonate Ionic Cs1+ and HCO3- Cs1+ HCO3- CsHCO3