NOHS Chemistry
Naming Acids
Name: ______________________________________ Period: ____
Practice Problems:
A.
B.
Write the formula for each of the acids listed below:
1.
Nitric Acid
2.
Hydrocyanic Acid
3.
Acetic Acid
4.
Hydrobromic Acid
5.
Sulfuric Acid
6.
Hydrochloric Acid
7.
Hypochlorous Acid
8.
Phosphoric Acid
9.
Phosphorous Acid
10.
Hydrofluoric Acid
11.
Carbonic Acid
12.
Hydroiodic Acid
Name each of the following acids:
1. H3PO4
_________________ H3PO3
_________________
2. HCl
___________________________________
3. H2SO4
_________________ H2SO3
_________________
4. HNO3
_________________ HNO2
_________________
5. HCN
___________________________________
6. H2CO3
___________________________________
7. HBr
___________________________________
8. HI
___________________________________
9. HCH3COO
___________________________________
10. H2S
___________________________________
NOHS Chemistry
Naming Acids
Recognizing an Acid
At this very beginning level, you will recognize an acid by the fact that its formula starts with H,
as in these examples:
HCl
HNO3
H2SO4
HClO3
H3BO3
Naming Acids
In order to explain acid naming, the sequence of HCl, HClO, HClO2, HClO3, and HClO4 will be
discussed in order.
BINARY ACIDS
HCl is a binary acid. All binary acids are named the same way:
1. the prefix "hydro" is used.
2. the root of the anion is used.
3. the suffix "ic" is used.
4. the word "acid" is used as the second word in the name.
The name for HCl is hydrochloric acid. Examples of other binary acids are HF, HBr, HI, and
H2S.
OXYACIDS
1) HClO3 has the ClO3¯ polyatomic ion and its name is chlorate.
Any time you know the "ate" ending is used on the polyatomic, you use "ic."
The name of HClO3 is chloric acid.
+
 If one H ion is added to nitrate, NO3 , nitric acid, HNO3, is formed.
+
2 If two H ions are added to sulfate, SO4 , sulfuric acid, H2SO4, is formed.
+
3 If three H ions are added to phosphate, PO4 , phosphoric acid, H3PO4, is formed.
2) HClO2 has the ClO2¯ polyatomic ion in it. The name of this ion is chlorite.
Since the "ite" suffix is used, it gets changed to "ous."
The name of HClO2 is chlorous acid.
+
 If one H ion is added to nitrite, NO2 , nitrous acid, HNO2, is formed.
+
2 If two H ions are added to sulfite, SO3 , sulfurous acid, H2SO3, is formed.
+
3 If three H ions are added to phosphite, PO3 , phosphorous acid, H3PO3, is formed.
You have to:
1. recognize when a polyatomic is present and
2. know its name.
Only then can you know to change the "ite" suffix to "ous" and the "ate" suffix to "ic" when it is
an acid.