WRITING CHEMICAL

FORMULAS
 1. THE CRISS CROSS RULE
O A COMPOUND IS ELECTRICALLY
CHARGED.
O THE VALENCE OF POSITIVE ION IS EQUAL
TO THE SUBSCRIPT OF NEGATIVE ION.
O THE CATION IS WRITTEN FIRST,
FOLLOWED BY THE ANION
Write the correct formula for aluminum sulfide.

STEP A. WRITE THE CORRECT SYMBOLS OF THE ELEMENTS

AND RADICALS.

STEP B. WRITE THE CORRECT VALENCE NUMBER ABOVE EACH

SYMBOL.

STEP C. TO GET THE CORRECT SUBSCRIPTS, CRISS-CROSS THE

VALENCE NO. AND DROP THE SIGNS.
2. WHEN A VALENCE NUMBER IS ONE, SUBSCRIPT 1
IS NOT WRITTEN

Sodium sulfide  Na2S

3. ALL RADICALS TAKE MORE THAN ONE
MUST BE ENCLOSED IN PARANTHESES.

Ammonium sulfate  (NH4)2SO4

Calcium phosphate  Ca3(PO4)2
 4. ALL SUBSCRIPT MUST BE REDUCED TO
LOWEST TERMS EXCEPT FOR MOLECULAR
OR COVALENT COMPOUND

Tin (IV) oxide  SnO2

Iron (II) sulfite  FeSO3
5. PARANTHESES ARE NOT USED WHEN
ONLY ONE POLYATOMIC ION IS
REQUIRED IN FORMULA

Potassium hydroxide  KOH

NAMING COMPOUNDS
 1. TO WRITE THE FORMULA OF
BINARY IONIC COMPOUNDS, START
WITH METAL CATION FOLLOWED BY
NONMETTALIC ANION
NaCl  Sodium chloride
KBr  Potassium bromide
Al2O3  Aluminum oxide
2. IN TERNARY COMPOUNDS, THE “-ide”
ENDING IS ALSO USED, SUCH AS
HYDROXIDE (OH-) AND CYANIDE (CN-)

NaCN  Sodium cyanide

KOH  Potassium hydroxide
3. TRANSITION METALS, CAN FORM
MORE THAN ONE TYPE OF ATOM.

2 WAYS: CLASSICAL METHOD

STOCK SYSTEM
 A. CLASSICAL SYSTEM
O The “ic” and “ous” is added to the root
word of the latin name of the cation
followed by adding “-ide” to the non-
metallic anion.
O “ic” higher oxidation
O “ous” lower oxidation
Example:

FeCl2
FeCl3
 A. STOCK SYSTEM

ORoman numerals are used to

designate different cations of
the element to indicate the
oxidation number of the metal.
 Example:

MnO = Manganese (II) oxide

Mn2O3
MnO2
 Formula of acids
O ACIDS YIELDS HYDROGEN

O CLASSIFICATION:
A. BINARY ACID
B. TERNARY ACID
 BINARY ACID
O CONSIST OF HYDROGEN AND
NONMETAL.

O STARTS WITH PREFIX “Hydro-”

O ENDS WITH SUFFIX “-ic”

 Example of binary acid:

HCl Hydrochloric acid

H2S
HBr
 TERNARY ACID
O ACID CONTAINING HYDROGEN, OXYGEN AND ACID FORMING
ELEMENT.

O NAMES DO NOT HAVE PREFIX, INSTEAD NAMES END WITH “-

ous” or “-ic”

O “-ic” = “-ate” (contain more oxygen)

O “-ous” = “-ite” (contain less oxygen)
 Example of ternary acid:
H2CO3 Carbonic acid
HNO3
H3PO4
H2SO4
H3PO3
H2SO3
 Formula of Base
OBase yields hydroxide ions

OMetallic cation named first

followed by the term “hydroxide”
 Examples of bases formula:

NaOH Sodium Hydroxide

KOH
Ba(OH)2