LSS Chemistry Students’ Common Record Sheet

Secondary Two

Student’s Common Mistakes

Topic(s): Chemical Formulae & Solubility

1. Students tend to write the chemical formulae for the following compound wrongly:

Chemical Name

Sodium Chloride Na(Cl)

NaCl

Barium Sulfate Ba(SO4) BaSO4

Ba2(SO4)2

Sodium Hydroxide Na(OH) NaOH

* Bracket only to be used for two or more compounds. e.g. Fe(OH)2

2. When asked to list the soluble/insoluble substance from a given chemical equation

students, tend to write water as a soluble substance.

Please note that water is not the accepted answer.

Example:

Iron(II) Hydroxide + Hydrochloric acid  Iron Chloride + Water

Soluble substance(s) : Hydrochloric acid, Iron chloride and Water.

Insoluble substance(s) : Iron (II) hydroxide

Please do not write water as the soluble substance

Ms Ricca Jasin Nil Sine Labore

10/9/2009 Victoria School
LSS Chemistry Students’ Common Record Sheet
Secondary Two

3. Confusion of the formulae for nitrate, nitrite, nitride

phosphate, phosphite, phosphide
sulfate, sulfite, sulfide

Nitrate NO3- Sulfate SO42- Phosphate PO43-

Nitrite NO2- Sulfite SO32- Phosphite PO33-
Nitride N3- Sulfide S2- Phosphide P3-

Tips to remember …

All negative ions (anions) end in “-ide”, “-ate”, or “-ite”

“-ates”

These contain several oxygen atoms. There is no rule about how many oxygen atom
they consist (you just have to memorize them)

“-ites”
Negative ions that end in “-ites” contain one less oxygen than the “-ates” and they
have same charge as the the “-ates”

“-ides”
These are single atom ( except for OH- and cyanide CN- )

You can tell the charge from the position on the periodic table

Example:

Family VII ( F,Cl, Br, I) all form 1- ions

Family VI ( O, S ) all form 2- ions
Family V ( N, P ) all forms 3- ions

Hope the above tips useful for u…

All the best for SA2!

Ms Ricca Jasin Nil Sine Labore

10/9/2009 Victoria School