
130 Nomenclature Handout:
Covalent Compounds –two or more nonmetal atoms; can combine in multiple ratios; use prefixes to identify
number of atoms in the compound
1st element – name the element
2nd element – ends in –ide
(Exception: If there is only one of the first atom, we don’t use the prefix mono-)
Examples:
CO
carbon monoxide
CO2
carbon dioxide
N2O4 dinitrogen tetroxide
N2O5 dinitrogen pentoxide

Ionic Compounds – metal + nonmetal; electron is transferred from the metal (it becomes a positively charged
cation) to the nonmetal (it becomes a negatively charged anion)
Binary (one metal, one nonmetal)
1st element – name the metal; if it’s a transition metal, use a roman numeral - except for Ag+, Zn2+, and Cd2+
2nd element – ends in –ide
Examples:
NaF
sodium fluoride
CaCl2 calcium chloride
CuCl2 copper (II) chloride
Fe2N3 iron (III) nitride
Contain polyatomic ions (two or more nonmetal atoms that are covalently bonded together that act as a single ion)
Examples: NO3- (nitrate), SO42- (sulfate), NH4+ (ammonium – the only polyatomic cation)
cation – name the metal; if it’s a transition metal, use a roman numeral - except for Ag+, Zn2+, and Cd2+
anion - name the polyatomic ion
Examples:
NaOH sodium hydroxide
Mg(NO3)2
magnesium nitrate
Zn(OH)2 zinc hydroxide
Fe2(SO4)3
iron (III) sulfate
 Acids – usually start with H, are in the aqueous phase
Know these 6: HCl(aq): hydrochloric acid; HF(aq): hydrofluoric acid; H2SO4(aq): sulfuric acid; H3PO4(aq): phosphoric
acid; HNO3(aq): nitric acid; H2CO3(aq): carbonic acid
Binary acids: H+ + single element nonmetal; name as hydro-______-ic acid
Examples:
HF(aq) hydrofluoric acid
HCl(aq) hydrochloric acid
HBr(aq) hydrobromic acid
HI(aq)
hydroiodic acid
Oxoacids: acids made from polyatomic ions
Ions that end it –ate become –ic as an acid
Ions that end in –ite become –ous as an acid
Examples:
H2SO4(aq)
H3PO4(aq)
sulfuric acid
phosphoric acid
NO3-  nitrate
NO2-  nitrite
H2SO3(aq)
H3PO3(aq)
HNO3(aq)  nitric acid
HNO2(aq)  nitrous acid
sulfurous acid
phosphorus acid
Practice
lead (II) sulfate
PbSO4
copper (II) hydroxide
Cu(OH)2
diphosphorus pentoxide
P2O5
lithium cyanide
LiCN
calcium phosphide
Ca3P2
krypton tetrafluoride
KrF4
sodium oxide
Na2O
strontium chloride
SrCl2
dihydrogen monoxide
H2O
zinc fluoride
ZnF2
cobalt (III) acetate
Co(C2H4O2)2
sulfur tetrafluoride
SF4
FeCl3
iron (III) chloride
KBr
potassium bromide
SF6
sulfur hexafluoride
Ni3(PO4)2
nickel (II) phosphate
Ag2S
silver sulfide
NO3
nitrogen trioxide
NiCO3
nickel (II) carbonate
PbO
lead (II) oxide
SO2
sulfur dioxide