115 PLTL Activity Sheet # 4

Naming Ionic & Covalent Compounds

General Information:

Common Polyatomic Ions

+1 Charge −2 Charge
+ 2−
NH4 ammonium HPO3 hydrogen phosphite
H3 O+ hydronium HPO42− hydrogen phosphate
Hg22+ mercury(I) CO32−− carbonate
SO32−− sulfite
−1 Charge
− SO42−− sulfate
AlO2 aluminate
S2O32− thiosulfate
BrO− hypobromite
SiO32− silicate
BrO2− bromite
C22− carbide
BrO3− bromate
C2O42−− oxalate
BrO4- perbromate
CrO42−− chromate
CH3COO− acetate
Cr2O72−− dichromate
HCO3− hydrogen carbonate
C4H4O62− tartrate
ClO− hypochlorite
MoO42-− molybdate
ClO2− chlorite
O22− peroxide
ClO3− chlorate
S22− disulfide
ClO4− perchlorate
CN− cyanide
CNO− cyanate −3 Charge
CNS− thiocyanate PO3 3−
−
phosphite
CrO2− chromite PO43−− phosphate
HSO3− hydrogen sulfite PO23− hypophosphite
HSO4− hydrogen sulfate AsO33− arsenite
IO− - hypoiodite AsO43− arsenate
IO2− - iodite
IO3− iodate
IO4− periodate −4 Charge
MnO4− permanganate P2O74− pyrophosphate
NO2− nitrite
NO3− nitrate **Most commonly encountered ions in bold.
N3− azide
♦ Polyatomic Ions - A group of atoms held
OH− hydroxide
together by covalent bonds found in ionic
O2− superoxide
compounds.
H2PO3− - dihydrogen phosphite ♦ Know/ memorize/ recognize names,
H2PO4− dihydrogen phosphate formulas and charges!

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 115 PLTL Activity Sheet # 4

General Information:
Recognizing Ionic vs. Covalent Compounds:
Ionic—held together thru mutual attraction of
oppositely charged ions, “opposites attract”
Compounds
Covalent/ molecular—held together by
covalent bonds; shared electron pairs

Ionic: Molecular/ Covalent:

♦ Metal plus non-metal or ♦ Contains only non-metal atoms
♦ Metal plus polyatomic ion or
♦ Polyatomic ion plus polyatomic ion

♦ Chemical Formula - Indicates the number and type of atoms in the base unit of a compound.

Type of compound Base unit

Ionic Formula unit (f.u.)
Molecular Molecule

♦ Valence Electrons - Electrons in the outermost shell of an atom

♦ The only e−s involved in bonding and chemical reactions.
♦ For the S- & P-blocks: # Valence e− = Group number

♦ Ionic Compounds: An electrostatic attraction between a positive ion and a negative ion, where one
or more electrons have been transferred from the valence shell of one atom to the valence shell of
the other atom.

♦ Molecular Compounds: Sharing valence electrons between atoms of different elements form
COVALENT bonds

♦ Octet Rule - An atoms tends to gain, lose or share such that it achieves eight valence electrons.
There are some exceptions to the “Octet” Rule!

Formation of Ionic Compounds:

♦ All compounds are electrically neutral ⇒ possess no
net charge.
♦ Number of positives = number of negatives

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 115 PLTL Activity Sheet # 4

Nomenclature Flow charts Cations

Monatomic Polyatomic
Only one ion More than one
possible ion possible

Rule: Rule: Rule: ???

Name of element + “ion” (a) Newer rule: positive charges
indicated by Roman numeral. Examples:
Examples: NH4+ ammonium ion
Na+ sodium ion Examples: H3O+ hydronium ion
Mg2+ magnesium ion Fe2+ iron(II) ion Hg22+ mercurous ion or
H+ hydrogen ion Fe3+ iron(III) ion mercury(I) ion
Sr2+ strontium ion Cu+ copper(I) ion
Al3+ aluminum ion Cu2+ copper(II) ion

Comment: (b) Older but still used rule: Latin

The number of positive stem for the element + “ous” for
charges is not indicated in the lesser charge and “ic” for the
the name because it is not greater charge.
necessary
Examples:
Fe2+ ferrous ion
Fe3+ ferric ion
Cu+ cuprous ion
Cu2+ cupric ion
Sn2+ stannous ion
Sn4+ stannic ion

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 115 PLTL Activity Sheet # 4

Anions
Anion Oxy-anions Oxy-anions containing
s Hydrogen

Rules: Rules: Rules:

Stem of the least oxygen: hypo__ite ion H- oxy-anion: hydrogen + name
element + “ide” less oxygen: __ite ion of oxy-anion or “bi” + name of
more oxygen: __ate ion oxy-anion.
Examples: most oxygen: per__ate ion
H- hydride ion H2- oxy-anion: “dihydrogen”
F- fluoride ion Examples: + name of oxy-anion
O2- oxide ion ClO- hypochlorite ion
N3- nitride ion ClO2- chlorite ion Examples:
C4- carbide ion ClO3- chlorate ion HCO3- hydrogen carbonate ion
ClO4- perchlorate ion or bicarbonate ion
SO32- sulfite ion HSO4- hydrogen sulphate ion
SO42- sulfate ion HPO42- Hydrogen phosphate ion
NO2- nitrite ion or biphosphate ion
NO3- nitrate ion H2PO4- dihydrogen phosphate ion

Comment: Comment:
Halogens (except F) form all H2CO3 is not named according to
four ions. When only two of this rule because it is a compound
the four ions exist, they are and not an ion.
“ite” and “ate” ions.

Others and Exceptions

Rules:
These items do not follow any
rules; they must be memorized

Examples:
OH- hydroxide ion
CN- cyanide ion
SCN- thiocyanide ion
OCN- cyanate ion
O22- peroxide ion
O2- superoxide ion
MnO4- permanganate ion
C2H3O2- acetate ion
Cr2O72- dichromate ion
C2O42- oxalate ion

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 115 PLTL Activity Sheet # 4

Compound
s
Ionic Molecular

Rule: Rule:
Name of the cation + name a. Less electronegative atom first (exceptions:
of anion (word “ion” dropped) when one of the elements is hydrogen.)

Examples: b. Number of each kind is specified by Greek

NaCl sodium chloride prefixes.
MgCl2 magnesium chloride
Fe3N2 iron(II) nitride c. prefix ‘mono” at beginning is
Na2CO3 sodium carbonate dropped.
NH4OH ammonium hydroxide
CaH2 calcium hydride Prefixes:
1=mono 6=hexa
Comment: 2=di 7=hepta
The name does not indicate the 3=tri 8=octa
numbers of cations and anions 4=tetra 9=nona
because there is only one possibility 5=penta 10=deca
for the ions to combine and form a
compound. Examples:
N2O4 dinitrogen tetraoxide
CO carbon monoxide
CO2 carbon dioxide
NO2 nitrogen dioxide
N2O dinitrogen monoxide

Note: several trivial names

H2O water
H2O2 hydrogen peroxide
NH3 ammonia

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 115 PLTL Activity Sheet # 4

Compounds containing hydrogen (AKA—Acids)

H-Nonmetal H-oxyanion

Rule 1: Rule:
w/o presence of H2O: when dissolved in H2O:
hydrogen __ide hypo__ous acid
__ous acid
Examples: __ic acid
HCl hydrogen chloride per__ic acid
HF hydrogen fluoride
H2S hydrogen sulfide Examples:
HClO hypochlorous acid
Rule 2: HClO2 chlorous acid
when dissolved in H2O: ClO3 chloric acid
hydro__ic acid ClO4 perchloric acid
SO3 sulfous acid
Examples: SO4 sulfic acid
HCl(aq) hydrochloric acid NO2 nitrous acid
HF (aq) hydrofluoric acid NO3 nitric acid
H2S(aq) hydrosulfuric acid H2SO3 sulfurous acid
H2SO4 sufuric acid
Comment: H3PO3 phosphorous acid
a. These H containg compounds H3PO4 phosphoric acid
are named as if they were ionic HC2H3O2 acetic acid
compounds. H2C2O4 oxalic acid
H2CO3 carbonic acid
b. The (aq) is often omitted
when it is obvious from the Comment:
context that they are acids. The (aq) is usually omitted

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 115 PLTL Activity Sheet # 4

Identify the cation and anion for the following ionic compounds. Be sure to include the correct charge!
Cation Anion Cation Anion Cation Anion
CaS MgF2 Cs2O
Fe2O3 Al2S3 NaBr
FeSO3 Mg3(PO4)2 KNO3
Na2SO4 Ba(NO3)2 Fe2(SO3)3
MgCl2 NaCl Ba3(PO4)2
KI Sr(MnO4)2 Fe3As2
Mn2(SO3)7 NaF PbSO4
SnBr4 Cr(PO4)2 Pb(OH)4
Mg3P2 Al2Se3 Cu(C2H3O2)2

Provide the correct name the following compounds.

NaBr B2H4
CaSO4 CO
P2O5 IO2
Zn(NO2)2 BBr3
K 3N VO2
V2S3 PbS
Ca(C2H3O2)2 Cr(CO3)3
SO2 N2O3
Ag3P CH4
FePO4 FeSO4
CuOH NH3
Ti(SO4)2 P2O5
C2Br6 SiO2
GaCl3 Na2CO3
CoBr2 H2O

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 115 PLTL Activity Sheet # 4

Write the correct chemical formula for the following chemical compounds.
tin (IV) selenide dinitrogen trioxide
nickel (III) sulfide lithium acetate
silver acetate phosphorus trifluoride
silicon dioxide vanadium (V) oxide
manganese (II) phosphate aluminum hydroxide
ammonium oxide zinc sulfide
diboron tetrabromide silicon tetrafluoride
magnesium sulfate heptahydrate silver phosphate
potassium carbonate iron (II) phosphide
carbon tetrachloride potassium acetate
tetrasulfur dinitride disilicon hexabromide
diselenium diiodide titanium (IV) nitrate
copper (I) phosphate tetraphosphorus triselenide
gallium oxide Dihydrogen monoxide

Provide the correct name for the following acids or bases.

NaOH NH3
H2SO3 HCN
H2S Ca(OH)2
H3PO4 Fe(OH)3

Write the correct chemical formula for the following acids or bases.
hydrofluoric acid cobalt (II) hydroxide
hydroselenic acid sulfuric acid
chlorous acid beryllium hydroxide
lithium hydroxide hydrobromic acid
nitrous acid perchloric acid
sulfurous acid potassium hydroxide
hypochlorous acid chloric acid
carbonic acid phosphoric acid