Chapter Four

4.2 CHEMICAL SYMBOLS, FORMULAE, WRITING AND NAMING FORMULAE

Symbol: A symbol is a shorthand notation of an element.

Symbols of Some Metallic Elements

No. English name Latin name Symbol
1 Sodium Natrium Na
2 Potassium Kalium K
3 Iron Ferrum Fe
4 Tin Stannum Sn
5 Lead Plumbum Pb
6 Copper Cuprum Cu
7 Mercury Hydrargyrum Hg
8 Silver Argentum Ag
9 Gold Aurum Au
10 Antimony Stibium Sb
11 Calcium Ca
12 Barium Ba
13 Magnesium Mg
14 Aluminium Al
15 Manganese Mn
16 Zinc Zn
17 Chromium Cr
18 Platinum Pt
19 Lithium Li
20 Rubidium Rb
21 Caesium Cs
22 Beryllium Be
23 Strontium Sr
24 Titanium Ti
25 Vanadium V
26 Nickel Ni
27 Cobalt Co

Symbols of Some Non-Metallic Elements

No. Name Symbol No. Name Symbol
1 Carbon C 11 Helium He
2 Sulphur S 12 Neon Ne
3 Phosphorus P 13 Argon Ar
4 Oxygen O 14 Krypton Kr
5 Hydrogen H 15 Xenon Xe
6 Nitrogen N 16 Radon Rn
7 Chlorine Cl 17 Boron B
8 Bromine Br 18 Silicon Si
9 Iodine I 19 Arsenic As
10 Fluorine F

1
Valence(Combining capacity) of Some Metallic Elements

Name Valence Name Valence

1 Potassium(K) 1 15 Gold(Au) 1,3
2 Sodium(Na) 1 16 Antimony(Sb) 1,3
3 Barium(Ba) 2 17 Platinum(Pt) 2,4
4 Calcium(Ca) 2 18 Chromium(Cr) 3,6
5 Magnesium(Mg) 2 19 Lithium(Li) 1
6 Aluminium(Al) 3 20 Rubidium(Rb) 1
7 Manganese(Mn) 2,4,7 21 Caesium(Cs) 1
8 Zinc(Zn) 2 22 Beryllium(Be) 2
9 Iron(Fe) 2,3 23 Strontium(Sr) 2
10 Tin(Sn) 2,4 24 Titanium(Ti) 2,4
11 Lead(Pb) 2,4 25 Vanadium(V) 3,5
12 Copper(Cu) 1,2 26 Nickel(Ni) 1,2
13 Mercury(Hg) 1,2 27 Cobalt(Co) 1,2
14 Silver(Ag) 1

Valence of Some Non-Metallic Elements

No. Name Valence No. Name Valence

1 Hydrogen(H) 1 10 Fluorine(F) 1
2 Phosphorus(P) 3,5 11 Helium(He) 0
3 Carbon(C) 2,4 12 Neon(Ne) 0
4 Sulphur(S) 2,4,6 13 Argon(Ar) 0
5 Iodine(I) 1 14 Krypton(Kr) 0
6 Bromine(Br) 1 15 Xenon(Xe) 0
7 Chlorine(Cl) 1 16 Radon(Rn) 0
8 Nitrogen(N) 1,2,3,4,5 17 Boron(B) 3
9 Oxygen(O) 2 18 Silicon(Si) 4
19 Arsenic(As) 3

Valence and Oxidation Number of Some Metallic Elements

Name Valence Symbol with

oxidation number(Positive ion or Cation)
1 Potassium(K) 1 K1+
2 Sodium(Na) 1 Na1+
3 Barium(Ba) 2 Ba2+
4 Calcium(Ca) 2 Ca2+
5 Magnesium(Mg) 2 Mg2+
6 Aluminium(Al) 3 Al3+
7 Manganese(Mn) 2,4,7 Mn2+, Mn4+, Mn7+
8 Zinc(Zn) 2 Zn2+
9 Iron(Fe) 2,3 Fe2+, Fe3+
1 Tin(Sn) 2,4 Sn2+, Sn4+
0
1 Lead(Pb) 2,4 Pb2+, Pb4+
1
1 Copper(Cu) 1,2 Cu1+, Cu2+
2
1 Mercury(Hg) 1,2 Hg1+, Hg2+
3
1 Silver(Ag) 1 Ag1+
4
2
 1 Gold(Au) 1,3 Au1+, Au3+
5
1 Antimony(Sb) 1,3 Sb1+, Sb3+
6
1 Platinum(Pt) 2, 4 Pt2+, Pt4+
7
1 Chromium(Cr) 3, 6 Cr3+, Cr6+
8
1 Lithium(Li) 1 Li1+
9
2 Rubidium(Rb) 1 Rb1+
0
2 Caesium(Cs) 1 Cs1+
1
2 Beryllium(Be) 2 Be2+
2
2 Strontium(Sr) 2 Sr2+
3
2 Titanium(Ti) 2, 4 Ti2+, Ti4+
4
2 Vanadium(V) 3, 5 V3+, V5+
5
2 Nickel(Ni) 1, 2 Ni1+, Ni2+
6
2 Cobalt(Co) 1, 2 Co1+, Co2+
7

Valence and Oxidation Number of Some Non-Metallic Elements

Name Valence Symbol with

oxidation number[Positive ion or Cation]
[Negative ion or Anion]
1 Hydrogen(H) 1 H1+
2 Phosphorus(P) 3,5 P , P5+
3+

3 Carbon(C) 2,4 C2+, C4+

4 Sulphur(S) 2,4,6 S , S4+, S6+
2-

5 Iodine(I) 1 I1-
6 Bromine(Br) 1 Br1-
7 Chlorine(Cl) 1 Cl1-
8 Nitrogen(N) 1,2,3,4,5 N3-, N1+,N2+,N3+,N4+,N5+
9 Oxygen(O) 2 O2-
1 Fluorine(F) 1 F1-
0
1 Helium(He) 0 He0
1
1 Neon(Ne) 0 Ne0
2
1 Argon(Ar) 0 Ar0
3
1 Krypton(kr) 0 Kr0
4
1 Xenon(Xe) 0 Xe0
5
1 Radon(Rn) 0 Rn0
6

3
 1 Boron(B) 3 B3+
7
1 Silicon(Si) 4 Si4+
8
1 Arsenic(As) 3 As3+
9

Some Common Acids

No. Name Formula No. Name Formula
1 Hydrochloric acid HCl 12 Chloric acid HClO3
2 Hydrobromic acid HBr 13 Bromic acid HBrO3
3 Hydriodic acid HI 14 Iodic acid HIO3
4 Hydrofluoric acid HF 15 Perchloric acid HClO4
5 Nitric acid HNO3 16 Perbromic acid HBrO4
6 Nitrous acid HNO2 17 Periodic acid HIO4
7 Sulphuric acid H2SO4 18 Hypochlorous acid HOCl
8 Sulphurous acid H2SO3 19 Hypobromous acid HOBr
9 Hydrogen sulphide H2S 20 Hypoiodous acid HOI
10 Carbonic acid H2CO3 21 Methanoic acid HCOOH
(Formic acid)
11 Phosphoric acid H3PO4 22 Ethanoic acid CH3COOH
(Acetic acid)

Acids and Acid Radicals

No. Name of acid Formula of Formula of acid radical and Name of acid
acid radical(Negative ion or Anion)
1 Hydrochloric acid HCl Cl 1-
(chloride)
2 Hydrobromic acid HBr Br 1-
(bromide)
3 Hydriodic acid HI I1- (iodide)
4 Hydrofluoric acid HF F 1-
(fluoride)
5 Nitric acid HNO3
(nitrate)
6 Nitrous acid HNO2
(nitrite)
Note: N3- (nitride)
7 Sulphuric acid H2SO4
(hydrogensulphate)
(sulphate)
8 Sulphurous acid H2SO3
(sulphite)
(hydrogensulphite)
9 Hydrogen sulphide H2S HS 1-
(hydrogensulphide)
S2- (sulphide)
10 Carbonic acid H2CO3
(hydrogencarbonate)
(carbonate)
11 Phosphoric acid H3PO4
(dihydrogenphosphate)
(hydrogenphosphate)
(phosphate)
12 Chloric acid HClO3
(chlorate)

4
13 Bromic acid HBrO3
(bromate)
14 Iodic acid HIO3
(iodate)
15 Perchloric acid HClO4
(perchlorate)
16 Perbromic acid HBrO4
(perbromate)
17 Periodic acid HIO4
(periodate)
18 Hypochlorous acid HOCl
(hypochlorite)
18 Hypobromous acid HOBr
(hypobromite)
20 Hypoiodous acid HOI
(hypoiodite)
21 Methanoic acid HCOOH HCOO1- (methanoate)
(Formic acid) (formate)
22 Ethanoic acid CH3COOH CH3COO1- (ethanoate)
(Acetic acid) (acetate)
Bases and Basic radicals
23 permanganate No. Name of base Formula Basic radical and
of base Name of basic radical
24 dichromate 1 Sodium hydroxide NaOH Na1+ or Na+ (sodium)
25 chromate 2 Potassium KOH K1+ or K+ (potassium)
hydroxide
26 zincate 3 Magnesium Mg(OH)2 Mg2+ (magnesium)
hydroxide
27 aluminate 4 Calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2 Ca2+ (calcium)
28 silicate 5 Ammonium NH4OH NH41+ or NH4+
hydroxide (ammonium)
29 OH1- hydroxide