Naming Binary Compounds:
A binary compound contains only two kinds of
atoms.
Naming:
1) metal + nonmetal
a) name the metal
b) use the stem of the
name of the nonmetal; add "-ide"
Example:
KCl -- potassium chloride
(K is the metal; Cl is the nonmetal)
Na2S -- sodium sulfide
(Na is the metal; S is the nonmetal)
2) nonmetal + nonmetal
a) name the first
element
b) use the stem of the
second element; add '-ide"
c) precede each name
with a prefix to indicate the number of each kind of atom.
Example:
N2O4 -- dinitrogen tetroxide
SO3 -- sulfur trioxide
Naming Binary Compounds - Prefixes Used
for Two Non-metals
Prefix
Example
|
mono- (one) |
CO -
carbon
monoxide |
|
di- (two)
|
CO2
-
carbon
dioxide |
|
tri- (three) |
N2O3
-
dinitrogen
trioxide |
|
tetra- (four) |
CCl4
-
carbon
tetrachloride |
|
penta- (five) |
N2O5
-
dinitrogen
pentoxide |
|
hexa- (six) |
UF6
-
uranium
hexafluoride |
Additional Info
Naming Binary Compounds with a fixed charge
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