Naming Compounds
The first thing you have to do is determine if the compound is Ionic or Covalent...
Naming Ionic Compounds
Naming Covalent Compounds
Ionic Bonds are bonds that hold a metal and nonmetal
together. As the name suggests, Ionic Compounds deal with ions; a cation bonding to an anion. As a result, naming the compounds has to do with the charge on the ions.
You always name the cation (usually a metal) first. If the charge is always the same (alakli and alkaline earth metals) you just name them. If the charge can change (transition metals) you have to state the charge using roman numerals. If the charge is on a group of atoms (polyatomic ion) you just name the polyatomic ion.
The anion always comes second. Almost all anions have an
-ide ending. This indicates a negative charge. If the anion is a polyatomic ion, just state the name of the polyatomic ion.
See the videos below for additional help.
YOU SHOULD WATCH AT LEAST 2 OF THESE VIDEOS
Covalent Bonds are bonds that hold a nonmetal and
nonmetal together. Nonmetals can bond to eachother in many different ways. As such, we need to use prefixes to distinguish between two covalent compounds that have the same elements in them (ex. carbon dioxide [CO2] and carbon monoxide [CO]).
The first element in the covalent compound has a prefix if ONLY if there are multiple atoms.
The second element in the covalent compound ALWAYS has a prefix.
List of prefixes:
1 - mono 5 - penta 9 - nona
2 - di 6 - hexa 10 - deca
3 - tri 7 - hepta
4 - tetra 8 - octa
See the videos below for additional help.
YOU SHOULD WATCH AT LEAST 2 OF THESE VIDEOS