Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I.
Na
Cl
2.
Some cations or positively charged ions use the same name as that of the
name of the element given in the periodic table. For example:
sodium (Na) in its ion form Na
1+
is also called
2+
is
Some cations especially those which belong to the transition metals may
have several valency of oxidation state. In this case the one which has
lower valency/oxidation state uses the suffix ous and those with higher
valency uses the sufix ic. For example:
copper (Cu) may be Cu
1+
called cuprous or Cu
2+
called cupric
2+
ferrous or Fe
ferric
5.
3+
= sodium
6.
In some cases for simple cations, especially those which have several
oxidation numbers, a Roman numeral may be used to indicate the oxidation
number (charge) of the metal cation. This rule is called the stock system.
For example:
FeCl3
3+
iron(III)
chloride
iron(III) chloride
2+
Fe
-
Cl
FeCl3
HgBr2
Hg
-
Br
HgBr2
7.
instead of ferric
dinitrogen pentoxide, 2
carbon tetrachloride
HSO-
HSO
4
bisulfit
bisulfat
HCO
-
HPO2-
bicarbona
HPO
2-
biphospha
biphosphi
3.
Follow the naming systems for binary compounds but do not change the
name of the polyatomic ions. Example,
NaClO3
1+
Na
+3 ClO
sodium + chlorate
+3
2-
Al2 (SO4)3 Al
+
4
SO
aluminum + sulfate
Fe(CN)3
3+
Fe
+ CN
ferric + cyanide
2
Ca(HSO4)2 Ca
+
HSO
calcium +
bisulfate
3.
Follow the rule of changing the suffix of the polyatomic anions in an acid. For
example, chlorine and its anion forms:
Suffix of the
anion (Cl1-)
chloride
1hypochlorite (ClO )
1chlorite (ClO2 )
1chlorate (ClO
3 )
1perchlorate (ClO
4
)
suffix is
changed
hydro to
hypo
ous ous
ic
per
ic
ic
Name of the
acid
hydrochloric acid
hypochlorous
acid
chlorous acid
chloric acid
perchloric acid
Identify the symbols of the cation and anion. Write their symbol together
with their respective valence charge. The cation is placed on the left, anions
are written on the right.
sodium = Na
1+
oxide = O
2-
1+
Na
2-
2.
Balance the positive and negative charge. Since each sodium is 1+ and
+
each oxide is 2-, then it will take two Na to balance one oxide with a 2- so
that:
1+(2)
Na
3.
2-(1)
(1+)(2) + (-2)(1) = 0
Write the formula placing the subscripts right after the symbol they go with.
The numbers inside the parenthesis become the subscripts in the formula.
Na2O
4.
Notice that the subscript 1 does not have to be written after the oxide
symbol. It is understood that the subscript is 1 if none is written.
5.
Similarly, the subscripts are not written if both ions have the same value for
their oxidation number.
The same rule applies to formula writing with polyatomic ions. Using aluminum
sulfate as an example:
1.
Identify the symbols of the cation and anion. Write their symbols together
with their respective valence charge. The cation is placed on the left,
anion is written on the right. Treat the polyatomic ion as a single unit.
aluminum =
2SO4
3+
;
Al
3+
Al
sulfate
=4
2SO
2.
Balance the positive and negative charges. Since each aluminum is 3+ and
sulfate is 2-, then it will take two 2 aluminum ions to balance 3 sulfates with
a 2- so that:
Al
3.
3+ (2)
SO
4
2-(3)
(+3)(2) + (-2)(3) = 0
Write the formula placing the subscripts right after the symbol they go with.
The numbers inside the parenthesis become the subscripts in the formula.
Al2 (SO4)3
4.