CHEMICAL FORMULAS
Chemical Formulas : used to express the composition of
molecules and ionic compounds in terms of chemical
symbols.
MOLECULAR FORMULA ( MF ) – shows the exact number of
atoms of each element in the smallest unit of a substance.
EMPIRICAL FORMULA (EF ) – simplest chemical formulas.
It is written by reducing the subscripts in molecular
formulas to the smallest possible whole numbers.
RULES IN WRITING FORMULA
• 1. The symbols of metals, nonmetals, and inert gases also
stand for their formula.
Example: Sodium - Na
Sulfur - S
Neon - Ne
Zinc - Zn
Carbon - C
CONT…
• 2. Active gaseous elements are written correctly by putting a
subscript 2 after symbol because these form diatomic
molecules.
• Example : Hydrogen – H2
Chlorine - Cl2
Oxygen - O2
Iodine - I2
• 3. To give the formula for a compound , the symbol of the
positive ion is written first followed by the negative ion. Their
respective valences should be indicated.
• a ). When the positive valence and the negative valence are
of the same value ; just write their symbols side by side.
• Example : Sodium Chloride – NaCl
Calcium Oxide - CaO
Barium Sulfide - BaS
• b). When the positive valence and the negative valence are
not of the same value, the criss-cross is applied. In the criss-
cross rule, the value of the positive valence becomes the
subscript of the negative ion and the value of the negative
valence becomes the subscript of the positive ion.
Example:
Ferric Chloride – FeCl3
EXERCISE 1.
• Write the formulas of the following compounds:
1. Magnesium Nitride _____________
2. Cadmium Iodide _____________
3. Strontium Fluoride _____________
4. Cesium Sulfide _____________
5. Chromium (III) Iodide ___________
6. Stannous Fluoride _____________
7. Cobalt (II) sulfide _____________
8. Cadmium Nitrate _____________
9. Aluminum Hydroxide ___________
10. Hydrobromic Acid _____________
11 Hydrocyanic Acid ______________
12. Sulfuric Acid ______________
13. Chloric Acid ______________
14. Dinitrogen Tetraoxide __________
15. Sulfur Pentafluoride ____________
16. Dichlorine Heptaoxide _________
17. Disulfurous Dichloride _________
18. Nitrogen Oxide _______________
19. Nitric Acid _______________
20 . Acetic Acid _______________
NAMING COMPOUNDS
Nomenclature : the naming of compounds.
Organic Compounds : contain carbon , usually in combination
with elements such as hydrogen , oxygen , nitrogen and sulfur.
Inorganic Compounds : do not contain carbon. Some carbon
containing compounds are considered to be inorganic
compounds : CO , CO2 , CS2 ,CN , CO3 and HCO3.
IONIC COMPOUNDS
•1. Binary Compounds : formed from just two elements.
* The first element is the metal cation, followed by the nonmetallic anion. The
anion is named by taking the first part of the element name and adding ide.
NaCl – Sodium Chloride
KB - Potassium Chloride
ZnI2 - ______________
Al2O 3 ______________
LiOH ______________
KCN ______________
• * Metals ( transition metals ) can form more than one type of
cation.
• CLASSICAL METHOD: use as “ ous “ to the cation of fewer
positive charges and “ic” ending the cation with more positive
charges.
FeCl2 - Ferrous Chloride
FeCl3 - Ferric Chloride
SnO –
• STOCK METHOD: The Roman Numeral indicate the actual
number of positive charges.
MnO – Manganese (II) Oxide
Mn2O3 - Manganese (III) Oxide
SnS - ___________
SnS2 - ___________
PbO - ___________
Fe2O3 - __________
MOLECULAR COMPOUNDS:
• Naming binary molecular compounds is similar to naming
binary ionic compounds.
• * Place the name of the first element in the formula first , and
the second element is named by adding ide to the root of the
element name.
HCl – Hydrogen Chloride
HBr – Hydrogen Bromide
SiC - Silicon Carbide
• * Compounds with Prefixes:
CO – Carbon Monoxide
CO2 – Carbon Dioxide
SO2 _ Sulfur Dioxide
SO3 _ Sulfur Trioxide
N2O4 - Dinitrogen Tetroxide
1.The prefix “mono” may be omitted for the first element.
1. PCl3 - Phosphorous Trichloride
• 2. For oxides, the ending “a” is sometimes omitted.
N2O4 - Dinitrogen Tetroxide
Greek Prefixes Used in
Naming Molecular Compounds
Prefix Meaning
Mono 1
Di 2
Tri 3
Tetra 4
Penta 5
Hexa 6
Hepta 7
Octa 8
Nona 9
Deca 10
*Exceptions to the use of greek prefixes are molecular
compounds containing hydrogen.
Example : CH4 - Methane
H2O – Water
H2 S - Hydrogen Sulfide
SiH4 – Silane
ACIDS AND BASES
• An acid can be described as substance that yields hydrogen
ions ( H+ ) when dissolved in water. Formula for acids contain
one or more hydrogen atoms as well as an anionic group.
Anions whose names end in ide form acids with a “hydro”
prefix and an ic ending.
HF – Hydrofluoric Acid
HCl – Hydrochloric Acid
OXOACIDS
• * acids that contain hydrogen , oxygen and another element
• ( the central element ).
HNO3 – Nitric Acid
HClO3 – Chloric Acid
H2 SO4 – Sulfuric Acid
* Often two or more oxoacids have the same central atom but
different number of oxygen atoms. Starting with the oxoacids
whose names end with “ ic” , we use the following rules to
name these compounds:
1.Addition of one O atom to the “ic” acid,
the acid is called “per……ic” acid.
HClO4 – Perchloric Acid
2. Removal of one O atom from the “ic” acid, the acid is called
“ous” acid.
HNO2 – Nitrous Acid
3. Removal of two O atoms from the “ic” acid , then the acid is
called “hypo…ous” acid.
HBrO3 – Bromic Acid
HBrO – Hybromous Acid
OXOANIONS
• * Anions of Oxoacids.
1.When all H ions are removed from the “ic” – acid , the anions
name ends with “ate”.
CO3 from HCO3 – Carbonate
2. When all the H ions are removed from the “ous” acid, the
anions name ends with “ite”. Thus the anion ClO2 derived
from HClO2 is called Chorite.
3. The names of anions in which one or more but not all the
hydrogen ions have been removed must indicate the number
of H ions present.
H3PO4 - Phosphoric Acid
H2PO4 – Dihydrogen Phosphate
HPO4 - Hydrogen Phosphate
PO4 - Phosphate
• HYDRATES :
* compounds that have a specific number of water molecules
attached to them.
BaCl2 • 2H2O - Barium Chloride Dihydrate
MgSO4 • 7H2O - Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate
• I. Write the formulas of the following compounds:
1. Dinitrogen Trioxide
2. Chlorine Dioxide
3. Ammonium Sulfate
4. Cupric Oxide
5. Hydrosulfuric Acid
6. Hydroiodic Acid
7. Nitric Acid
8. Phosphorous Acid
9. Sodium Nitride
10. Lead (II) Iodide
11. Ferric Oxide
12. Magnesium Phosphide
13. Sulfur Trioxide
14. Tungsten (VI) Oxide
15. Titanium (II) Oxide
16. Cobalt (II) Chloride
17. Potassium Carbonate
18. Hydrobromic Acid
19. Perchloric Acid
20. Sodium Phosphate
II. Write the names of the following compounds:
1. ICl3 8. Sr (OH )2
2. Se2Cl2 9. KMnO4
3. CS2 10. Rb2S
4. PH3 11. Na2CO3
5. IF2 12. Ba( NO2)2
6. P4O6 13. NaClO
7. ScCl3 14. Fe2(SO3)2
15. HClO3
16. Cu3(PO4)2
17. Co (NO3)2
18. Cu2S
19. Pb2O4
20. HNO3
