Chemical Nomenclature

Naming Basic Compounds

  • Metal with Nonmetals:
  1. Metal is named first
  2. Metals with one oxidation state are simply written as their name
  3. Metals with more than one oxidation state are written as their simple name followed by a roman numeral that represents the oxidation state of the metal in the compound.
  4. Add the suffix –ide to the stem of the nonmetal
  • Nonmetal with a Nonmetal
  1. The first nonmetal will just be written as its simple name if there is only one of them. If there are two or more, you must add a prefix.
  2. The second nonmetal will always have a prefix to denote how many are found in the compound.
  • Nonmetal Prefixes

1- mono 2- di 3- tri 4-tetra 5- penta 6- hexa 7- hepta 8- octa 9- nona 10- deca

Naming Compounds with Polyatomic Ions

  • When naming compounds with polyatomic ions, you never alter the name of the polyatomic ions.

The rules for your nonmetals and metals that are paired with your polyatomic ion will remain the

same.

Naming Organic Compounds

Carbon is the third most abundant element in the human body. The other elements that combine with carbon range from hydrogen to oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur in those compounds in the body. The range of elements that combine with carbon outside the body include all the halogens, and phosphorus. We'll begin with the compounds of carbon and hydrogen. Compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen are called hydrocarbons. The simplest hydrocarbon contains one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. The formula is CH4, and the name is methane. If we continue adding carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms the formulas and names for the first ten hydrocarbons are;

CH4 = methane C2H6 = ethane C3H8 = propane C4H10 = butane C5H12 = pentane C6H14 = hexane C7H16 = heptane C8H18 = octane C9H20 = nonane C10H22 = decane

Naming Acids

Acids-For simplicity, the acids that we will be concerned with naming are really just a special class of ionic compounds where the cation is always H+. So if the formula has hydrogen written first, then this usually indicates that the hydrogen is an H+ cation and that the compound is an acid. When dissolved in water, acids produce H+ ions (also called protons, since removing the single electron from a neutral hydrogen atom leaves behind one proton).

Rules for Naming Acids that Do Not Contain Oxygen in the Anion:

  • Since all these acids have the same cation, H+, we don't need to name the cation.
  • The acid name comes from the root name of the anion name.
  • The prefix hydro- and the suffix -ic are then added to the root name of the anion.

HCl, which contains the anion chloride, is called hydrochloric acid.

HCN, which contains the anion cyanide, is called hydrocyanic acid.

Rules for Naming Oxyacids (anion contains the element oxygen):

  • Since all these acids have the same cation, H+, we don't need to name the cation.
  • The acid name comes from the root name of the oxyanion name or the central element of the oxyanion.
  • Suffixes are used based on the ending of the original name of the oxyanion. If the name of the polyatomic anion ended with -ate, change it to -ic for the acid and if it ended with -ite, change it to -ous in the acid.

HNO3, which contains the polyatomic ion nitrate, is called nitric acid.

HNO2, which contains the polyatomic ion nitrite, is called nitrous acid.

Reactions

Balancing Chemical Reactions

  • Chemical reactions must be balanced. Balanced means that the number of atoms of an element is the same for the reactants and the products. Law of Conservation of Matter: Matter cannot be created nor destroyed!

5 Types of Chemical Reactions

  1. Synthesis Reactions (composition reactions): Two or more substances combine to form a new compound.
  2. Decomposition Reactions: Single compound undergoes a reaction that produces two or more simpler substances.
  3. Single-Displacement Reactions (replacement reaction): One element replaces a similar element in a compound
  4. Double-Displacement Reactions: The ions of two compounds exchange places in an aqueous solution to form two new compounds.
  5. Combustion Reactions: a substance combines with oxygen, releasing a large amount of energy in the form of light and heat.

Identifying and Predicting Products of Chemical Reactions

Solubility Rules

  1. All Group I metals and ammonium ions are soluble.
  2. All nitrates (NO3), acetates (CH3COO), and chlorates (ClO3) are soluble.
  3. All binary compounds of the halogens (other than F) with metals are soluble, except those of Ag, Hg(I), and Pb. Pb halides are soluble in hot water.)
  4. All sulfates (SO4) are soluble, except those of barium, strontium, calcium, lead, silver, and mercury (I). The latter three are slightly soluble.
  5. Except for rule 1, carbonates (CO3), hydroxides (OH), oxides (O), silicates (compound with a silicon anion), and phosphates (PO4) are insoluble.
  6. Sulfides (compound with a sulfide anion) are insoluble except for calcium, barium, strontium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and ammonium.
  • Solubility rules are used with double displacement reactions. They are used to determine whether a precipitate (solid) is formed when the two compounds are reacted.
  • A net ionic equation is used to show the precipitates in the equation and the ions involved in those solid compounds. Spectator ions, those not involved in the change, are not included.