NOMENCLATURE

FORMULA WRITING AND NAMING OF

COMPOUNDS
Terms:
Chemical formula – a combination
of symbols which represents a
molecule’s composition
Molecule – a group of atoms held
together by chemical forces
Oxidation number – numerical
charge on the atoms of an element
(also called valence number)
Naming of Compounds
I. IONIC - compounds of metals and
non-metals
A. Binary compounds of metals
with fixed ON – composed of two
atoms only

Rule: The name of the metallic

element is given first, followed by the
stem name of the non-metal ending
in – ide.
stem name of metal + non-metal
ending in – ide
Example:
Formula Name
• Al2O3 • aluminum oxide
• CaI2 • potassium chloride
• Na2S • Magnesium nitride
 Exercise
1. MgCl2
2. Li3N
3. Y2O3
4. strontium oxide
5. calcium fluoride
6. magnesium sulfide
7. scandium nitride
B. Binary compounds containing metals
with variable oxidation numbers
B1: Classical Method
Rule: The Latin name of the metal is
written first with suffixes - ous for lower
valence and – ic for higher
valence. The name of the anion ending
in –ide follows:

Latin name of metal

--ous + anion - ide
-- ic + anion – ide
 Common Latin Names of
Elements
Cu copper cuprum
Sn tin stannum
Hg mercury hydrargyrum
Pb lead plumbum
B2: Stock Method
Rule: The English name of the
metal is used followed by Roman
numeral enclosed in parenthesis
which indicates the
valence of the metal. The name
of the anion ending in –ide follows:
English name of metal (RN) +
anion-ide
Formula Classical Stock
FeCl2
FeCl3
SnS
SnS2
 Exercise
•nickel (III) oxide
•cobalt(II) sulfide
•aurumic bromide
•CrN
•FeF2
•MnI2
 Quiz on Nomenclature
1. Potassium bromide 1. ZnS
2. Barium phosphide 2. CaI2
3. Calcium chloride 3. Li2S
4. Potassium sulfide 4. Hg2Cl2
5. Magnesium hydride 5. CuCl
6. Copper (I) oxide 6. SrO
7. Stannic fluoride 7. NiO
8. Ferric oxide 8. CuCl2
9. Hydrargyrous chloride 9. SnS2
10. Antimony (III) oxide 10. SiO2
 Quiz on Nomenclature
1. KBr 1. zinc sulfide
2. Ba3P2 2. calcium iodide
3. CaCl2 3. lithium sulfide
4. K2S 4. mercuric chloride
5. MgH2 5. copper (I) chloride/ cuprous chloride
6. Cu2O 6. strontium oxide
7. SnF4 7. nickel (II) oxide
8. Fe2O3 8. CuCl2 copper (II) chloride/ cupric
9. HgCl2 chloride
10. Sb2O3 9. tin (IV) sulfide/ stannic sulfide
10. silicon (IV) oxide
Radicals or polyatomic ions –
groups of atoms which act as
single units during chemical
change
Examples:
NH4+ - ammonium ion
SO4 -2 - sulfate ion
C2H3O2 - - acetate ion
Stock system – a way of
writing/naming compounds using
the English name of the metals
plus Roman numeral indicating
the charge or oxidation number
Classical method – uses the Latin
name of the metal plus suffixes –
ous for lower valence and – ic for
higher valence
Steps in writing formula: (Principle
of electrical neutrality)
1. Identify the charges of the ions
using the valence table. Write
the cation first followed by the
anion.
2. Apply the law of electrical
neutrality. If the charges are
unequal, do the criss-cross
method. That is,
the superscript of the cation
becomes the subscript of the
anion and the superscript of the
anion becomes the subscript of
the cation.
3. Radicals which have subscripts
higher than one should be
enclosed in parenthesis.
4. Reduce the subscripts to the
lowest ratio.
Examples: Write the formula of each
of the following:
1. potassium chloride
2. stannous oxide
3. stannic oxide
4. ammonium dichromate
5. Iron (III) phosphate
6. iron (II) phosphate
7. calcium silicate
8. mercurous chloride
9. mercuric chloride
10. sodium sulfide
11. barium sulfite
12. aluminum perchlorate
13. lead (IV) acetate
14. copper (II) iodide
15. cuprous arsenate
1. mercurous chloride
2. mercuric chloride
3. sodium sulfide
4. barium sulfite
5. aluminum
perchlorate
6. lead (IV) acetate
7. copper (II) iodide
8. cuprous arsenate
9. AgNO3
10. (H3O)3Fe(CN)6
11. Na2CO3
12. SnSiO3
13. Bi(ClO4)3
14. Zn(MnO4)2
15. C(IO4)2
C. Bases – are compounds of
metals and hydroxide ion (OH-)

Rule: The stem name of the metal

is written first followed by the word
hydroxide.

stem name of metal + hydroxide

Examples:
NaOH sodium hydroxide
Ca(OH)2 calcium hydroxide
Al(OH)3 aluminum hydroxide

Classical Stock
Fe(OH)2 ferrous hydroxide iron (II) hydroxide
Fe(OH)3 ferric hydroxide iron (III) hydroxide
D. Ternary compounds – metal
and radical

Rule: The name of the cation is

given first followed by the name
of the negative radical

name of metal + radical

Examples:
K2CrO4 potassium chromate
Na3PO3 sodium phosphite
Na3PO4 sodium phosphate
CaSO3 calcium sulfite
CaSO4 calcium sulfate
Fe4(SiO4)3 ferric silicate iron (III) silicate
Fe2SiO4 ferrous silicate iron (II) silicate
Pb3(AsO4)2 plumbous arsenate lead (II)
arsenate
Pb3(AsO4)4 plumbic arsenate lead (IV)
arsenate
II. COVALENT COMPOUNDS -
compounds between non-metals
A. Covalent compounds
containing two non metals
Rule: The name of the
electropositive ion is given first,
then the name of the more
electronegative ion which is
preceded by a prefix like mono,
di, tri, etc. to denote the number
of ions. The negative ion ends in –
ide.
Examples:
CO monocarbon monoxide
CO2 monocarbon dioxide
SO3 monosulfur trioxide
CCl4 monocarbon tetrachloride
P2O5 diphosphorus
pentaoxide/pentoxide
Cl2O7 dichlorine
heptaoxide/heptoxide
B. Acids – compounds containing
hydrogen
Rule:
Anion ending acid name
-ide hydro – ic acid
-ite - ous acid
-ate - ic acid
Examples:
anion ending acid name
HCl chloride hydrochloric acid
HBr bromide hydrobromic acid
HNO2 nitrite nitrous acid
HNO3 nitrate nitric acid
HClO hypochlorite hypochlorous acid
HClO2 chlorite chlorous acid
HClO3 chlorate chloric acid
HClO4 perchlorate perchloric acid
Exception:
H3PO4 phosphate phosphoric acid
H2SO4 sulfate sulfuric acid