CHEMICAL FORMULA

Jessan D. Moradas
Check-up Quiz! 5pts

Which of the following anions

is polyatomic?
A. Iodide C. Sulfide

B. Nitrite D. Bromide
 Check-up Quiz! 5pts

Which of the following is the correct

formula of copper (II) nitrate?

A. CuNO3 C. Cu(NO3)2
B. Cu2NO3 D. Cu2(NO3)2
 Check-up Quiz! 5pts

Which of the following is a binary

compound?
A. Sodium nitrate
B. Sodium oxide
C. Sodium hydroxide
D. Sodium carbonate
 The composition of a molecule or an ion
can be represented by a
chemical formula.

The formula consists of the symbols of the

atoms making up the molecule. If there is
more than one atom present, a numerical
subscript is used.
Examples are the following:

• O2 – oxygen gas
• H2O – water
• NaOH – sodium hydroxide (liquid Sosa)
• HCl – hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid)
Two Types Of Chemical
Formulas

Molecular formula

Empirical formula
• Molecular formula – gives the
composition of the molecule, in terms of
the actual number of atoms present.
• Empirical formula – gives the
composition of the molecule, in terms of
the smallest ratio of
the number of atoms present.
• Molecular formula • Empirical formula
Binary compounds – made up of two elements.
Rules for naming in two groups of binary compounds:
• Ionic compounds – made up of a cation and an anion.
They are named by giving the name of the cation first,
followed by the name of the anion.

• Molecular compounds – made up of two non-metals.

They are named by giving the name of the first nonmetal
and then that of the second nonmetal modified by the
ending -ide. Molecular compounds are usually gases.

Naming Of Binary Compounds

Ionic Compounds

Symbol Name
NaI sodium iodide
MgCl2 magnesium chloride
FeS iron (II) sulfide
K2O potassium oxide
Molecular Compounds

Symbol Name
HCl hydrogen chloride
CO2 carbon dioxide
SO3 sulfur trioxide
Ternary compounds – made up of three elements.
The naming of ternary compounds follows the same
rule as that of the binary ionic compound: the name of the
cation is given first, followed by the name of the anion.

Symbol Name
NaNO3 sodium nitrate
BaCrO4 barium chromate
K2SO4 potassium sulfate

Naming Of Ternary Compounds

Acids – yield hydrogen ions in aqueous solutions.
• Binary acids – composed of hydrogen and another
element, usually a nonmetal. The first part of the name starts
with the prefix hydro- followed by the name of the element,
modified by the ending –ic. The second part consists of the
word ‘acid’.
Name = hydro- (root name of element) -ic +
acid
Symbol Name
HCl hydrochloric acid
H2S hydrosulfuric acid
Naming Of Acids HI hydroiodic acid
Acids – yield hydrogen ions in aqueous solutions.
• Ternary acids – made up of hydrogen and an anion,
usually containing oxygen.
The first part of the name consists of the root word of the
name of the element, modified by the ending – ic.

The second part consists of the word ‘acid’.

If there is another acid with the same atoms, the suffix –ous
is used to denote the one with less number of atoms.

Naming Of Acids
Name = (root name of element) -ic (or –ous) +
acid
Symbol Name
HNO3 nitric acid
HNO2 nitrous acid
H2SO4 sulfuric acid
H2SO3 sulfurous acid
H3PO4 phosphoric acid

Naming Of Acids
Writing the Formula of the Compound

After you become familiar with the naming of

compounds, it would be easy to write the formula of the
compound.
In writing the formula, the total positive
charges of the cations should be equal to
the total of the negative charges of the
anion. The net charge should be zero.
Write the formula of the following compounds, given
the name of the compound:

Name Symbol
Silver nitrate AgNO3
Potassium iodide KI
Nitrogen dioxide NO2
Barium chloride BaCl2
Hydrobromic acid HBr