Chemical Nomenclature Information Sheet Template
ADVERTISEMENT
1
2
3CHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE
Introduction
Chemistry is the study of matter (elements and compounds) and the changes that matter undergo.
Elements and compounds are such an important part of chemistry. Because there are 112 elements
presently and millions of compounds, it is very important that chemists are able to communicate concisely
and without ambiguity about which element or compound is being discussed.
In the early beginnings of chemistry, the chemical name of a compound and its chemical formula had
little or no relationship to each other. For example, the compound Na
CO
, was initially called soda ash.
2
3
The name “soda ash” contains no information about the type or number of elements in the compound.
Modern naming methods have corrected this lack of connection between chemical formulas and chemical
names.
Today the rules for writing chemical formulas and naming chemicals are set by the Nomenclature
Committee of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Chemical names and
formulas that follow the rules of this committee are to follow IUPAC nomenclature. The older names are
often referred to as common names. Thus soda ash is the common name for Na
CO
and sodium carbonate
2
3
is the correct IUPAC name. In Chemistry 1180 you will occasionally encounter a common name, water for
example, but most of the nomenclature will follow IUPAC rules.
In this course you will be expected to master the IUPAC nomenclature for six different types of
compounds. These are binary compounds (both metal-nonmetal and nonmetal-nonmetal), metal-
polyatomic anion, binary acids (non-oxyacids), polyatomic acids (oxyacids) and hydrates.
IUPAC Nomenclature Rules for Inorganic Compounds
1. Binary Compounds
Metal-Nonmetal
These compounds may be either ionic or covalent depending on the electronegativity of M and X. The
+
metal of NH
is always written first. These compounds are commonly referred to as salts. (More about
4
electronegativity and bonding in Chapter 8.)
General form = M
X
y
z
+
Where: M = any metal ion or ammonium ion, NH
4
-
-
X = any nonmetal element and OH
and CN
y and z represent integers
Steps in naming binary metal – nonmetal compounds:
+
(1) Use the full name of the metal, M, or ammonium if M is NH
4
(2) Follow metal name with a Roman numeral, in ( ), to indicate the metal’s charge. This step is omitted if
the metal has only one common charge. (refer to periodic chart).
-
-
(3) Write the stem of the nonmetal’s name, or hydroxide if OH
or cyanide if CN
. Stems for the most
common nonmetals are as follows: B = bor, C = carb, N = nitr, O = ox, F = fluor, Si = silic, P =
phosph, S = sulf, Cl = chlor, As = arsen, Se = selen, Br = brom, Te = tellur, I = iod.
(4) Add the suffix, -ide to the stem of the nonmetal.
Examples: NaCl = sodium chloride;
Fe
O
= iron (III) oxide
2
3
ADVERTISEMENT
0 votes
Related Articles
Related forms
Related Categories
Parent category: Education