Instructions on how to name a Covalent (aka Molecular) compound:
remember that they are made of 2 non-metals
non-metals can form a wide range of compounds using the same 2 elements
For example: NO, N2O and NO2 are all made of N and O so we CAN’T call them all nitrogen oxide
Because of this, we need to name them a different way, so we use Greek Prefixes:
1 = mono
5= penta
9= nona
2= di
6= hexa
10= deca
3= tri
7= hepta
4 = tetra
8= octa
STEPS to naming a covalent compound:
1. Look at first Element in formula and determine # of atoms, if it’s greater than one, use
corresponding greek prefix infront of element name. If it’s one, just use element name
2. Look at second element in formulas and determine # of atoms for all #’s of atoms, use
corresponding greek prefix infront of element name then add “ide” to the end of the name.
Examples:
N2O
CF4
P2O3
BUT!! What if it’s just one element???
 Certain NON-metal elements are diatomic (which means that they form a bond with themselves)…
you’ll have to memorize these:
I Br Cl F O N H
You can remember these by the following Sentence “I Bring Chlorine For Our New Hottub”
So, if a question asks you for a formula for Oxygen , it’s O2 (oxygen is on the list of diatomic molecules)
but if it asks for Phosphorous, it’s just P (Phosphorous is NOT on the list of diatomic molecules)