Name ____________________________________________________Date ______________________ Period_______
Naming Covalent Compounds Worksheet
Chemistry; Coleman
Covalent compounds- consist of nonmetals only.
Naming Rules:
1. The first element is named first, using the element’s name off the periodic table
2. For the second element, take its root and add ending –ide
3. Add prefixes which will show how many atoms of each element are here in a compound
4. “Mono” is not used to name the first element.
Prefixes:
1: mono
2: di
3: tri
4: tetra
5: penta
6: hexa
7:hepta
8: octa
9: nona
10: deca
Note: when the addition of the Greek prefix places two vowels adjacent to one another, the "a" (or the "o") at the end of
the Greek prefix is usually dropped; e.g., "nonaoxide" would be written as "nonoxide", and "monooxide" would be
written as "monoxide". The "i" at the end of the prefixes "di-" and "tri-" are never dropped.
Examples:
1. H2O2 : dihydrogen dioxide
2. P2S3 : diphosphorous trisulfide
3. CO2: carbon dioxide
Write the formulas for the following covalent compounds:
1) antimony tribromide __________________________________
2) hexaboron monosilicide __________________________________
3) chlorine dioxide __________________________________
4) trihydrogen monophosphide __________________________________
5) iodine pentafluoride __________________________________
6) dinitrogen trioxide __________________________________
7) carbon monoxide __________________________________
8) phosphorus triiodide __________________________________
Write the names for the following covalent compounds:
9) P4S5__________________________________
10) O2 __________________________________
11) SeF6 __________________________________
12) Si2Br6 __________________________________
13) SCl4 __________________________________
14) CH4 __________________________________
15) B2Si __________________________________
16) NF3 __________________________________
Name the following chemical compounds. Some are Ionic and some are covalent. Remember, you do not
use the prefixes when naming Ionic compounds. Be careful…
1) NaBr ______________________________________________
2) Ca(C2H3O2)2 ______________________________________________
3) P2O5 ______________________________________________
4) Ti(SO4)2 ______________________________________________
5) FePO4 ______________________________________________
6) K3N ______________________________________________
7) SO2 ______________________________________________
8) CuOH ______________________________________________
9) Zn(NO2)2 ______________________________________________
10) V2S3 ______________________________________________