SMILE

(SIMPLIFIED MODULE INTENDED FOR LEARNING ENCOUNTERS)

Learner’s Packet
Name:

Section: Date:

ADVANCED CHEMISTRY
(Q1_LP7)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR LEARNERS:

Chemical formulas are symbolic representations of substances. These chemical

symbols express the elements present and the ratios in which the atoms are combined. They
are also used as basis in classifying substances. Written on the balloons are examples of
chemical formulas.

This learning packet is concerned of writing the chemical formulas of ionic compounds
and molecular compounds.

LEARNING COMPETENCY WITH CODE:

LC: Write the chemical formula of inorganic compounds.

Specific Objectives:
1. Distinguish between inorganic ionic compounds and inorganic molecular compounds
2. Write the chemical formulas of inorganic ionic compounds and inorganic molecular
compounds.

ACTIVITIES/ EXERCISES:

ACTIVITY 1: ORGANIC AND INORGANIC COMPOUNDS

In general, what element differentiates an organic compound from inorganic

compound? Organic compounds are carbon-containing compounds like, methane (CH 4)
butane (C4H10) and ethanol (CH3CH2OH). Inorganic compounds are compounds that contain
elements other than carbon, such as, sodium chloride (NaCl), ferrous sulfate (FeSO 4) and
nitric acid (HNO3). Therefore, it is the presence of the element carbon that differentiates
organic from inorganic compound. However, there are carbon-containing compounds which
are considered inorganic such as, carbon dioxide (CO 2), carbon monoxide (CO) and the
polyatomic ions, cyanide (CN-1), bicarbonate (HCO3-1) and carbonates (CO3-2).
 Classify each of the following compounds as organic or inorganic compound. Write OC
if the compound is organic and IC if it is inorganic.

1. magnesium bromide (MgBr2) 4. potassium hydroxide (KOH)

2. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) 5. Ethylene (C2H4)
3. Propane (C3H8) 6. Lithium chloride (LiCl)

ACTIVITY 2: IONIC COMPOUNDS

Inorganic compounds can be classified into ionic compounds and molecular

compounds. Ionic compound is composed of cation (+ charged ion) and anion (- charged ion).
Generally, it is composed of metal and non-metal.

metal nonmetal

lithium bromide Li+1 Br-1 LiBr

cation anion

Here are some other examples of ionic compound. Please take note how the chemical
formulas are written; potassium bromide (KBr), zinc chloride (ZnCl2) and aluminum oxide
(Al2O3). Conventionally, the cation is written first followed by the anion. Below is the list of
common cations and anions in which you need to be familiar of in writing chemical formulas.

MONOATOMIC CATIONS MONOATOMIC MONOATOMIC

hydrogen H+1 CATIONS CATIONS
Lithium Li+1 WITH TWO CHARGES WITH TWO CHARGES
Sodium Na+1 copper (I) Cu+1 tin(II) Sn+2
potassium K+1 copper(II) Cu+2 tin(IV) Sn+4
Silver Ag+1 mercury(I) Hg+1 lead(II) Pb+2
magnesium Mg+2 mercury(II) Hg+2 lead(IV) Pb+4
Calcium Ca+2 gold(I) Au+1 arsenic(III) As+3
Strontium Na+2 gold(III) Au+3 arsenic(V) As+5
Barium Ba+2 iron(II) Fe+2 antimony(III) Sb+3
Zn+2 iron(III) Fe+3 antimony(V) Sb+5
Zinc
Al+3 cobalt(II) Co+2
aluminum
cobalt(III) Co+3
nickel(II) Ni+2
POLYATOMIC CATION
nickel(III) Ni+3
ammonium NH4+1
 MONOATOMIC POLYATOMIC ANIONS POLYATOMIC ANIONS
-1
ANIONS bromite BrO2 hydroxide OH-1
-1 -
fluoride F-1 bicarbonate HCO3 permanganate MnO4
chloride Cl-1 cyanate CNO-1 1
-1
bromide Br--1 cyanide CN-1 nitrate NO3
-2 -1
iodide I-1 sulphate SO4 nitrite NO2
-2 -1
oxide O-2 sulphite SO3 perchlorate ClO4
-2 -1
sulphide S-2 carbonate CO3 chlorate ClO3
-2 -1
nitride N-3 oxalate C2O4 chlorite ClO2
-2
phosphide P-3 dichromate Cr2O7 hypochlorite ClO-1
-2 -1
carbide C+2 chromate CrO4 iodate IO3
-3 -1
phosphate PO4 iodite IO2

How do you think chemical formulas of ionic compounds are written? Here are the rules on
writing them;

1. Write the symbol of cation followed by the anion of a compound. Then simply criss-cross the
charges and make them as their subscripts.
ex. aluminum oxide Al+3 O-2 Al2O3

3. A subscript of one should no longer be indicated.

ex. sodium chloride Na+1 Cl-1 NaCl
calcium fluoride Ca+2 F-1 CaF2

4. If the subscripts are both divisible by a number, divided them by their greatest common factor.
ex. barium oxide Ba+2 O-2 BaO
tin(IV) oxide Sn+4 O-2 SnO2

5. If a subscript of polyatomic ion is greater than 1, enclose the polyatomic ion in parentheses.
ex. magnesium phosphate Mg+2 PO4-3 Mg3(PO 4) 2
ammonium sulfite NH4+1 SO3-2 (NH4) 2SO3

A. Now, let us have an activity to see if you have learned something in how to write chemical
formulas of ionic compounds.
Complete the table by writing the chemical formulas of the ionic compounds from the given ions.

ANION -3
Br-1 O-2 OH-1 PO4
CATION
Na+1
Ca+2
Sn+4
+1
NH4

B. Write the chemical formulas of the following ionic compounds on the space provided.

1. potassium chloride 6. lithium carbide

2. barium oxide 7. lead (IV) carbonate

3. calcium fluoride 8. ammonium chloride

4. ferric oxide 9. sodium iodide

5. aluminum hydroxide 10. mercury (II) oxide

ACTIVITY 3: MOLECULAR COMPOUNDS

MOLECULAR COMPOUNDS:

Unlike ionic compound, molecular compounds are composed non-metals. They have discrete
molecular units indicated by Greek prefixes. For example, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide
(CO2) and diiodine pentoxide (I2O5). Greek prefixes on its name denote the number of atoms present
in the compound. Look at the figure below and study how the chemical formulas for molecular
compounds are written.

carbon monoxide carbon dioxide diiodine pentoxide

CO CO2 I2O5

1 carbon atom 1 carbon atom 2 iodine atoms

1 oxygen atom 2 oxygen atoms 5 oxygen atoms

As shown in the figure above, writing chemical formula for molecular compound is usually
straightforward. You just need to write the symbol of elements in the same order as that in its name
and translate the Greek prefixes into number by writing it as its subscript. Consider the following
examples;

GREEK PREFIXES Write the chemical formula of the following molecular compounds.
Mono 1
Di 2 1. dinitrogen monoxide
Tri 3
tetra 4 2. sulphur dioxide
penta 5
hexa 6 3. dinitrogen pentoxide
hepta 7
4. chlorine triflouride
octa 8
nona 9
5. dichlorine monoxide
deca 10

Answers: 1. N2O 2. SO2 3. N2O5 4. CF3 5. Cl2O

Write the chemical formula of the following molecular compounds.
.
1. sulfur trioxide 6. Selenium dioxide

2. xenon diflouride 7. iodine trichloride

3. phosphorus tribromide 8. xenon tetraflouride

4. iodine pentaflouride 9. diodine heptoxide

5. bromine monoflouride 10. dinitrogen trioxide

ACTIVITY 4: WHERE DO I BELONG?

Let us sum up what you have learned. Let us see if you can now distinguish ionic
compounds from molecular compound and can write the correct chemical formulas. Answer
the activities that follows.
From the symbols written on the balloons below, fill in the table by grouping the
chemical formulas into ionic compounds and molecular compounds.

IONIC COMPOUNDS MOLECULAR

COMPOUNDS

ACTIVITY 5: WRITING CHEMICAL FORMULA

Write the chemical formulas of the following inorganic compounds on the space
provided after its chemical name.

potassium sulfide calcium chloride

silver nitrate tin(IV) sulfate
barium hydroxide selenium dioxide
diphosphorus ammonium
pentachloride phosphate
aluminium sulfide zinc hydroxide
tetraphosphorus bromine
decoxide monoflouride
calcium chlorate cobalt(II) nitrate

ferric oxide silver iodide

REFLECTION:

Congratulations! You have done a great job in finishing this learning packet. This time, share your
insights and questions by completing the prompts below.

Things I have learned today:

 I wish to ask about

REFERENCES FOR LEARNERS:

Textbooks:

Villamar, Rufino Jr. A. Chemistry, Latest Edition. Quezon City, Metro Manila.
St Bernadette Publishing House, 2012.

Chang, Raymund. General Chemistry: The Essential Concepts, 5th

Edition. New York USA, McGraw Hill Companies Inc., 2008.