Ionic Compoud Formula & Name Writing

1) Roll the ion dice corresponding to the colors at the beginning of each row.
● Re-roll if you get a repeat ion in the same section (each ion can only be used once per section)
2) Fill in the information from the dice into the positive/negative ion columns.
3) Write the formula and name for the ionic compound formed from the ions from the dice.
● Make sure you *ALWAYS WRITE THE POSITIVE ION FIRST* in both the formula and the
name.
● Remember to Cross-Drop-Reduce charges to find the formulas, and that sometimes names
require (roman numerals), and some formulas require ( ) too…
● All charges/subscripts should be formatted correctly. You can copy/paste from below if needed
+1 +2 +3 +4 -1 -2 -3 -4
1 2 3 4

Dice POSITIVE ION

NEGATIVE Formula Name
ION

Na+1 Cl-1 NaCl sodium chloride

Mg+2 O-2 MgO Magnesium Oxide

Al+3 F- AlF3 Aluminum Fluoride

K+3 P-3 KP Potassium Phosphide

Na+ CrO-24 Na2CrO4 Sodium Chromate

Al+3 CO-23 Al2(CO3)3 Aluminum Carbonate

K+ SO-24 K2SO4 Potassium Sulfate

Fe+3 O-2 Fe2O3 Iron(lll) Oxide

Hg+2 N-3 Hg3N2 Mercury(ll) Nitride

Cu+ S-2 Cu2S Copper(l) Sulfide

Hg+ SO-24 Hg2SO4 Mercury(l) sulfate

Fe+2 ClO-3 Fe(ClO3)2 Fe(ll) Chlorate

Cu+2 NO-3 Cu(NO3)2 Cu(ll) nitrate

NH+4 Cl- NH4Cl Ammonium Chloride

Sn+2 S-2 SnS Tin(ll) sulfide

Pb+2 N-3 Pb3N2 Lead(ll) Nitride

Pb+2 SO-24 PbSO4 Lead(ll) sulfate

Sn+4 CrO-24 Sn(CrO4)2 Tin (lV) chromate

Pb+4 CO-23 Pb(CO3)2 Lead (ll) carbonate

1. What are positive ions called? Briefly explain what happens to atoms to make them positive.
 An atom becomes a positive ion by losing one or more of its electrons. Positively charged ions
are called cations.

2. What are negative ions called? Briefly explain what happens to atoms to make them negative.
An atom becomes a negative ion by gaining one or more of its electrons. Positively charged
ions are called anion

3. Explain why any two ions can have only one correct formula?
All electrons gain an equal amount of space to fill and cannot have any empty space.

4. Why do some ionic compounds need a roman numeral?

Because transition metals can assume more than one charge

5. If element X combines with oxygen to form an ionic compound XO 2 what is the charge of
element X? What Group does X belong to on the Periodic Table?

+1, Group 1
 Covalent Compound Naming
1) Roll TWO number-dice and add up the total to determine both of the elements for each row.
● Make sure to fill in both the element 1 and element 2 columns.
● Re-roll if you get a repeat element in the same row.

2= carbon 3= phosphorus 4= hydrogen 5= fluorine 6= boron

7= chlorine 8= bromine 9= nitrogen 10= sulfur 11= iodine 12= arsenic

2) Fill in each of the two “subscript” columns of the table below with the numbers 1-10.
You can choose which numbers to put in each row BUT
○ Each column should have the numbers 1-10 only once each.
○ DO NOT use the same number for both subscripts in the same row, or pair up the
same two numbers in two different rows.
3) Combine the elements and subscripts into a formula, then write the name of the compound.
● Here are some subscripts you can copy/paste if needed.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Element 1 Subscript 1 Element 2 Subscript 2 Formula Name

carbon 5 nitrogen 2 C5N2 pentacarbon dinitride

bromine 1 fluorine 2 Br1F2 Bromine Difluoride

chlorine 2 arsenic 3 Cl2As3 Dichlorine Triasenide

iodine 3 carbon 4 I3C4 Triidine Tetracarbide

sulfur 4 boron 5 S4B5 Tetrasulfur Pentabromide

nitrogen 5 sulfur 6 N5S6 Pentanitrogen Hexasulfide

hydrogen 6 carbon 7 H6C7 Hexahydrogen Heptacarbide

arsenic 7 iodine 8 As7I8 Heptaarsenide Octaiodide

fluorine 8 chlorine 9 F8Cl9 Octafluorine Nonafluoride

hydrogen 9 phosphorus 10 H9P10 Nonahydrogen Decaphosphide

boron 10 bromine 1 B10Br1 Decaboron Monobromide

1) Why couldn’t we use the same dice as with the ionic compound formula activity? (be specific!)

You cannot use the same compound twice because it makes a type of reaction and makes it
not an ionic meaning they wont have equal balance or spaces