Binary Covalent Nomenclature Tutorial

For this tutorial,i learnt:
- that pure substances which consist of two nonmetallic elements are known as binary covalent compounds. Example are such as water and methane.

- the steps to write out the names for binary covalent compounds. Example, the name for the formula N2O3 is dinitrogen trioxide.

Below are some general forms that binary covalent compounds have:

prefix (name of nonmetal) prefix (root of name of nonmetal) ide

(e.g. dinitrogen pentoxide)
or (name of nonmetal) prefix (root of name of nonmetal) ide (e.g. carbon dioxide)
or (name of nonmetal) (root of nonmetal) ide (e.g. hydrogen fluoride)

- converting the systematic name of a binary covalent compound to the formula. It is the reverse of the steps for writing names from chemical formulas.

Steps: Write the symbols for the elements in the order mentioned in the name.
Write subscripts indicated by the prefixes.

Cation Names and Formulas Tutorial

I learnt that:
- nonmetallic atoms attract electrons more strongly than metallic atoms, therefore nonmetals tend to gain electrons to form anions.

- the Roman numeral in each name represents the charge on the ion and allows us to distinguish between more than one possible charge.

- there is only one common polyatomic ion. Its formula is NH4+, and its name is ammonium.

Anion Names and Formulas Tutorial

I learnt that:
- monatomic anions are named by adding -ide to the root of the name of the nonmetal that forms the anion. Examples: hydride ion (H-), nitride ion (N3- ), phosphide ion (P3-)

- some polyatomic anions are formed by the attachment of one or more hydrogen atoms. If an anion has a charge of -2 or -3, it can gain one or two H+ ions and still retain a negative charge. Example, carbonate, CO32-, can gain an H+ ion to form HCO3-.

- polyatomic ions are named with the word hydrogen in front of the name of the anion if there is one H+ ion attached and dihydrogen in front of the name of the anion if two H+ ions are attached. Example, HCO3- is hydrogen carbonate ion.

Ionic Nomenclature Tutorial

I learnt that:
- binary ionic compounds are ionic compounds containing a metal and a nonmetal. General formula: MaAb (M represents symbol of metallic element, A represents symbol of nonmetallic element, lowercase 'a' and 'b' represent subscripts)

- polyatomic ions can take the place of monatomic anions, so formulas that contain a symbol for a metallic element and the formula for a polyatomic ion represent ionic compounds.

- ammonium ions, NH4+, can take the place of metallic cations in an ionic compound. Hence chemical formulas that contain the formula for ammonium with either a symbol for a nonmetallic element or a formula for a polyatomic ion represent ionic compounds.