Chapter 2 – Materials and their Structures

2.6 Compounds and Formulae

 Formulae
 The chemical formula of a compound shows how many of each type
of atom join together to make the units which make up the compound.

For example,

In iron sulfide every iron atom is joined to one sulfur atom, so its formula
is shown as FeS.

In sodium oxide, there are two sodium atoms for every oxygen atom, so
its formula is shown as Notice that the ‘2’ is written as
a subscript, so writing Na2O would be wrong.

 This diagram shows that one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms
combine to make up the units of carbon dioxide. Its chemical formula is
written as CO2.

 You may be required to use a key to draw your own diagram of a

molecule, eg:

 Using this key, the molecules SH2 and NH3 would be represented like this.
  When a formula contains one atom of one element and more than one
atom of another element, the element with only one atom is in the
centre of the molecule and the atoms of the other element surround the
central atom.
 Sometimes you see more compound formulae such as Na2SO4 and
Fe(OH)3:
 a unit of Na2SO4 contains 2 sodium atoms, 1 sulfur atom and 4 oxygen
atoms joined together – this results in a total of 7 atoms
 a unit of Fe(OH)3 contains 1 iron atom, 3 oxygen atoms and 3 hydrogen
atoms – the brackets show that the 3 applies to O and H – this results in
a total of 7 atoms.
https://youtu.be/Y09CJ63nR5M -- Elements, Compounds & Mixture - Revision
Monkey

Compounds
 A compound contains atoms of different elements, chemically joined
together.
 Compounds form in chemical reactions, and you need other chemical
reactions to separate a compound into its elements.
 The diagrams show what happens when iron filings and sulfur powder
react together in a chemical reaction, rather than just mix together.

The iron and sulfur atoms in iron sulfide are joined together, so they cannot easily be
separated
 Chemical Names of Compounds
 Chemical names can seem complicated but there are rules for how the
names are built up.
 Chemists have a specific way of naming compounds. It is a standard
method of naming compounds that is used by scientists around the
world.
 The name is built from the elements and the construction of the
molecule.

 Key Points and Terms

 Nomenclature: A set of rules used for forming the names or terms in a
particular field of arts or sciences.
 Common exceptions exist for naming molecular compounds, where
trivial or common names are used instead of systematic names, such as
ammonia (NH3) instead of nitrogen trihydride or water (H2O) instead of
dihydrogen monoxide.

 Chemical Nomenclature – Why is it important?

 The most widely accepted format for nomenclature has been
established by IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry).

There are two objectives of using nomenclature in chemistry:

 To make sure that a spoken or written chemical name does not contain
any ambiguity regarding the chemical compound the name is referring
towards. It is important that each chemical name points towards a single
substance.
 To ascertain that each substance has one name only (although
alternative names are acceptable in some cases)
 To help the chemists communicate with their peers easily.
 How do you identify types of compounds?
 We all know that a chemical element has one type of atom only. When a
substance contains more than one kind of atom, then we say that it is a
compound.
 Millions of compounds exist and all fall in the following three broad
categories: What are the three types of compounds?

1) Ionic Compounds

 These compounds are made up of ions. Ions are charged particles that
are made when an atom gains or loses electrons.
 There are two types of ions: cation and anion.
 A cation is a positively charged ion and the anion is a negatively charged
ion.
 These compounds are generally formed by a reaction between a metal
and a nonmetal.
 For instance, NaCl is an ionic compound because sodium is a metal and
chlorine is a nonmetal.
 To determine how to name these compounds, see the rules for naming
ionic compounds in the next section.
2) Molecular or Covalent Compounds

 They are formed when elements of the compound share electrons in a

covalent bond to make up a molecule.
 These compounds are formed by the reaction between two nonmetals.
 When you see a compound with two or more nonmetals, then you can
easily term it as a covalent compound.
 For instance, carbon monoxide is made from two nonmetals carbon and
oxygen, hence it is a covalent compound.

Good Conductor of electricity Comparatively bad conductor of

electricity

 https://youtu.be/PKA4CZwbZWU -- ionic vs covalent (molecular)

 https://youtu.be/WWc3k2723IM -- ions
 https://youtu.be/Qf07-8Jhhpc?list=RDQM7C4IpB-75XA – ionic bonding
 https://youtu.be/5EwmedLuRmw -- Ionic bonding Part 2
 https://youtu.be/RkZNYuSho0M --- ionic bonding part 3
 https://youtu.be/PKA4CZwbZWU -- ionic vs molecular
 What are the Rules of Naming a Compound in Chemistry?
 Rules for Nomenclature in Naming Ionic or Molecular Compounds

 Here are the simple steps to name compounds in chemistry:

Step 1: Determine whether the compound in an ionic or molecular

compound.

o The compound is ionic if it contains a metal. Metals are present on

the middle and left side of the periodic table.
o The compound is molecular if it contains two nonmetals.
Nonmetals are present on the right side of the periodic table
above the staircase, including hydrogen)

Step 2: If it is an ionic compound. Follow the below steps (A, B and C):

A. To the end of the second compound's name, add the word "ide"

o Binary ionic compounds are made up of metal and non-metal.

o While naming the compound, the name of the metal is written
first, followed by the name of the non-metal.
o The last three alphabets of the non-metal are replaced with "ide".
Some examples of adding the "ide":
O = oxygen = oxide
Cl = chlorine = chloride
Br = bromine = bromide
F = fluorine = fluoride
S = sulfur = sulfide
Examples of binary compounds:

NaCl - sodium chloride

MgS - magnesium sulfide
InP = indium phosphide
 B. If the ionic compound contains polyatomic ion, then the last three
alphabets of a non-metal are replaced with "ate" or "ite".

o "ate" is employed when there are more number of oxygen atoms

present in a compound.
o "ite" is used when number of oxygen atoms present in a
compound is less.
o Some compounds also contain "ide" for instance OH (hydroxide).
Ending Number of elements

-ide
Two

-ite Three (one being Oxygen)

Three (one more Oxygen

-ate
than “-ite”)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zy98msg/revision/2

Naming ionic compounds with -ide and -ate

The name of an ionic compound ends in:

 -ide if it contains just two elements

 -ate if it contains three or more elements, one of which is oxygen
Some examples of names for ionic compounds:

Name (-ide) Formula Name (-ate) Formula

Calcium carbide CaC2 Calcium carbonate CaCO3

Potassium iodide KI Potassium iodate KIO3

Step 3: If it is a Covalent compound. Follow the below steps (D and E):

C. To the end of the second compound's name, add the word "ide"
 o Name the non-metal furthest to the left on the periodic table by
its elemental name.
o Name the other non-metal by its elemental name and an -ide
ending. This rule is same for molecular or ionic compounds.
o For instance, if the second compound is chlorine, then you should
remove "ine" and replace it with "ide", so that we can spell it
"chloride".

D. If more than one atom is seen in molecular compounds

o To name binary compounds between two nonmetals, prefixes

such as 1 = mono, 2 - di, 3 = tri, and so on are used.
Prefix Number of atoms

Mono- One

Di- Two

Tri- Three

Tetra- Four

Penta- Five

Hexa- Six

Hepta Seven

Octa Eight

Nona Nine

4Deca Ten

note: the "mono" prefix is not used on the first element.

For example: CO = carbon monoxide.
Examples:
CO2 = carbon dioxide
 N2O = dinitrogen monoxide
CCL4 = carbon tetrachloride

https://youtu.be/DejkvR4pvRw -- naming covalent molecular

compounds
https://www.ducksters.com/science/quiz/naming_chemical_compounds_questions.php

Metals don’t react with other metals to form compounds:

 Metal atoms can only donate electrons they don't accept electrons to
take part in a chemical reaction.
 Metal atoms don't share electrons to form a molecule (compound).