The Language of Chemistry

Naming Binary Compounds

The two constituent elements of binary compounds are usually metals and
nonmetals.
Example: NaBr, CaO and AlCl3.

There are also binary compounds which consist of non-metallic elements

only. For example, H2O, CO2 and NH3.

Rules in Naming Binary Compounds:

1. The name of a binary compound is the combination of the names of the
two constituent elements.
2. For binary compounds that consist of metals and non-metals, the metal is
named first followed by the non metal.
3. The suffix -ide replaces the last letters of the name of the non-metal.
For example, chlorine is changed to chloride.
Names of non metallic elements in binary compounds

Examples:
KI – potassium iodide
Mg3N2 – Magnesium nitride
CaH2 – Calcium hydride
 Naming Binary Compounds
4. If the metal has variable valence numbers, the valence number of the
metal used in the formula should be placed in parenthesis using capital
Roman numerals after the name of the metal.
Examples:
Cu2O – Copper (I) Oxide
FeCl2 – Iron (II) Chloride

5. If the binary compound consists of non-metallic elements only, we name

the first element in the formula followed by the name of the second
element with the suffix-ide.
Examples:
HCl – Hydrogen chloride
HBr – Hydrogen bromide
SiC – Silicon carbide
 Naming Binary Compounds
It is quite common for a pair of elements to form several different
compounds. In naming such compounds, we use the Greek prefixes to denote
the number of atoms of each element. Note that a prefix is a group of
letters added at the beginning of a word.

Greek prefixes used in naming binary molecular compounds

 Naming Binary Compounds
CO – Carbon monoxide
CO2 – Carbon dioxide
SO2 – Sulphur dioxide
SO3 – Sulphur trioxide
N2O – Dinitrogen monoxide
NO2 – Nitrogen dioxide
N2O4 – Dinitrogen tetroxide
P2O3 – Diphosphorus trioxide
P2O5 – Diphosphorus pentoxide

The following guidelines are helpful in naming compounds with prefixes:

 The prefix “mono” may be omitted for the first element. For example, PCl3 is
named phosphorus trichloride, not monophosphorus trichloride. Thus the absence
of a prefix for the first element usually means there is only one atom of that
element present in the molecule.
 For “oxides”, the ending “a” in the prefix is sometimes omitted. For example,
N2O4 is named dinitrogen tetroxide rather than dinitrogen tetraoxide.
 Naming Binary Compounds
Exceptions to the use of Greek prefixes are binary molecular compounds containing
hydrogen. Traditionally, many of these compounds are called either by their common
names or by names that do not specifically indicate the number of H atoms:
H2O – Water
NH3 – Ammonia
PH3 – Phosphine
H2S – Hydrogen sulphide

Example:
Name the following binary molecular compounds.
A) SiCl4 B) N2O5 C) NF3
Solution:
A) Because there are four chlorine atoms, the name of compound is silicon tetrachloride
B) There are two nitrogen atoms and five oxygen atoms. Thus, the name of compound is
dinitrogen pentoxide.
C) Since there are three fluorine atoms, the name of compound is nitrogen trifluoride.
 Class work
1. Name the following binary compounds
A) Ca3N2
B) AlCl3
C) MgS
D) SO2
E) NO
F) PCl3

2. Write the formula of the binary compounds made up of

A) Magnesium and chlorine
B) Aluminium and bromine
C) Potassium and Oxygen
D) Calcium and Oxygen
 Polyatomic Ions
A polyatomic ion is a group of atoms that exists in several compounds but does not exist
on its own.
Example: Nitrate, NO3 a polyatomic ion that consists of nitrogen and
oxygen atoms. Its valence number is 1.
 Nitrate exists in compounds like silver nitrate (AgNO3) but not by itself.
 Writing Chemical Formulas
Example:
To write the formula of aluminium sulphate:
 Class work
Write the chemical formulas for the following compounds:
A) Calcium phosphate
B) Iron (III) sulphate
C) Aluminium hydroxide