Some tips to memorize the Ion formula chart
Note:
 Reading and understanding this paper will make your life easy.
 Charge at the top of an element is known as valency
 Suffix is the ending letters where as prefix is the starting letters of
a word ex in bisulfate ‘bi’- is prefix and ‘-ate’ is suffix.
 Superscript is something that is written at the top of a letter
where as subscript is something that is written at the bottom of a
letter ex 1H2 ‘2’ is superscript and ‘1’ is subscript.
 Charge (valency) on an element is written as superscript with + or
- sign ex Na has +1 valency so it is written as Na+.
 It is very important to pay attention on suffix and prefix attached
with the name of ions.
 It is also very important to pay attention on the number of
charges (valency) present on an ion.
First page of the Ion formula chart
Heading--Simple cations and simple Anions
 It is very easy to memorize simple cations and simple anions. You
can do so with the help of Periodic table:-o Simple cations are just one metal element by itself with
positive valency(charges) ex Na+, Ca2+ etc.
o The suffix for all simple cations are ‘-ium’
o Simple anions are just one non-metal element by itself with
negative valency(charges) ex F-, S2- etc.
o The suffix for all simple anions are ‘-ide’
o All elements in Group 1 are +1 ex Na+
o All elements in Group 2 are +2 ex Mg++ or Mg2+
o All elements in Group 13 are +3 ex Al+++ or Al3+
o Elements above zig zag line Group 14 are -4 like C4-,Si4- but
those below the line are +4 like Ge4+,Sn4+,Pb4+
o Elements above zig zag line Group 15 are -3 like N3-,P3-,As3but those below the line are +3 like Sb3+,Bi3+
o Elements above zig zag line Group 16 are -2 like O2-,S2-,Se2,Te2- but those below the line are +2 like Po2+
o All elements in Group 17 are -1 ex Clo All elements in Group 18 have no charge
First page of the Ion formula chart
Heading--Cations with two types of charges
 These cations end with the suffix ‘-ous’ or ‘-ic’.
 These are mainly from groups 2 to 12 in the periodic table and
 These belong to d-block and are known as transition elements.
 They mostly have variable valencies (charge at the top of an
element) meaning they make more than one ion.
 There is no tip to know which one has what charges, you need to
memorize that ex chromium has +1 and +3, where as iron
has +2 and +3 but
 the tip is that higher charge ends with the suffix ‘ –ic’ and the
lower charge ends with the suffix ‘--ous’ ex in chromium +3
charge has the name as chromic whereas +1 charge has the
name as chromous; in iron Fe+3 is names as ferric and Fe+2 is
names as ferrous
Second (back)page of the Ion formula chart
Heading--Polyatomic ions
 This side is the hardest one.
 It needs a lot of memorization just like history dates.
 These are having more than one elements.
 Most of them have oxygen in it.
 The prefix ‘bi’ is also known as hydrogen. For ex. bisulfate is also
known as hydrogen sulfate.
 Here the suffixes are not ‘ous’, ‘ic’, ‘ium’, or ‘ide’.
 The suffixes present here are ‘ide’, ‘ite’, and ‘ate’.
 The difference in the suffix ‘-ate’ and ‘-ite’ is that the suffix ‘-ate’
has more oxygen whereas ‘-ite’ has less oxygen; for example in
the formula SO3- -and SO4- - ,SO3- - has 3 oxygen wheras SO4- - has 4
oxygen(meaning SO3- - has less oxygen than SO4- - ). So the name of
SO3- - will have a suffix ‘-ite’ i.e. sulfite and the name of SO4- - will
have a suffix ‘ate’ i.e. sulfate. The same rule apply to NO2- and
NO3- and many others.
 S- -, SO3- -, SO4- - looks similar and confusing the tip to memorize
and differentiate them are that-o S- - is simple anion(that is one element only) so the suffix will
be ‘ide’
o SO3- - is having less oxygen than SO4- -, so the suffix will be
‘ite’
o SO4- - has more oxygen than SO3- -, so the suffix will be ‘ate’
o So the names are name of elment + suffix i.e. sulfide, sulfite
and sulfate.
 N- - -, NO2- , NO3- looks similar and confusing tips to memorize and
differentiate them is the same as discussed above, which are--
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o N- - - is simple anion(that is one element only) so the suffix
will be ‘ide’
o NO2- is having less oxygen than NO3- , so the suffix will be
‘ite’
o NO3- has more oxygen than NO2- , so the suffix will be ‘ate’
o So the names are (name of elment + suffix) nitride, nitrite
and nitrate.
The same rule applies for P- - - , PO3- - -, PO4- - The same rule applies for HSO3- , HSO4The same rule applies for SnO22- , SnO32The same rule applies for AsO33- , AsO43In case of ClO- , ClO2- , ClO3- , ClO4- the rules are a little different
because there are four categories, which depending on the
number of oxygen they have. So the rules are –
o ClO- with least number of oxygen has a prefix ‘hypo’ and a
suffix ‘ite’. So the name is Hypo-chlor-ite (prefix + name of
element +suffix)
o ClO2- with number of oxygen more than ClO- has no prefix
but a suffix ‘ite’. So the name is chlor-ite (name of element
+suffix)
o ClO3- with number of oxygen atoms more than ClO2- has no
prefix and a suffix ‘ate’. So the name is chlor-ate (prefix +
name of element +suffix)
o ClO3- with highest number of oxygen atoms has a prefix ‘per’
and a suffix ‘ate’. So the name is per-chlor-ate (prefix +
name of element +suffix)
 The same rule applies for lO- , lO2- , lO3- , lO4- and BrO- , BrO2- ,
BrO3- ,BrO4-