Nomenclature

Ammonium

NH4+

Acetate

C2H3O2-

Chlorate

ClO3- 

Cyanide

CN-

Hydroxide

OH-

Nitrate

NO3-

Bicarbonate

HCO3-

Carbonate

CO3^2-

Chromate

CrO4^2-

Sulfate

SO4^2-

Phosphate

PO4^3-

Monoatomic Cations

• Name of Metal + Ion

• Transition metals can have more than 1 charge 

  • Indicate charge with roman numerals in parentheses after the metal name

  • Pb (lead) and Sn (Tin) also apply to this rule

  • Exceptions: don't use parentheses with Ag+ (silver), Zn+2 (zinc), and Cd+2 (Cadmium)

    • Always have the same charge → treat as group metals

Monotonic Anions

• Root of Non-Metal + Ide

Ionic Compounds

• Metal and non-metal

• Cation then Anion (ends in ide)

  • Ratio of ions must cancel out charges 

  • Predict formula using the criss-cross method

Covalent Compounds

• Non-metal and non-metal

• Use prefixes for each element in the compound 

  • The only exception is when the first element has 1 

• The least electronegative element comes first 

  • Second element ends with ide 

• Don't reduce ratios

Prefixes

1. Mono

2. Di

3. Tri

4. Tetra

5. Penta

6. Hexa

7. Hepta

8. Octa

9. Nona

10. Deca

Variations

• Ate → the base 

• Per → add an oxygen to the base ion

• Ite → remove an oxygen from the base ion 

• Hypo + Ite → remove 2 oxygens