3.4 - Naming Ionic Compounds

How do we name the cation of a monatomic ionic compound?

Ionic compounds are named by simply naming the cation followed by the anion. For ionic compounds containing common monatomic ions, we give the name of the cation first, simply using its element name.

How do we name the anion of a monatomic ionic compound?

To name the anion we add the suffix –ide to the root of the name of the element that corresponds to the anion. Generally for ionic compounds, a prefix indicating the atomic ratio is not used.

How do we name polyatomic ionic compounds?

Naming ionic compounds containing polyatomic anions is similar to naming compounds with monatomic anions. The cation is named first, followed by the name of the polyatomic ion

Names for these ionic compounds do not directly communicate the relative number of ions in the formula unit. This is unnecessary because we can use the ionic charges for ___________ predicted from the periodic table or recalled from a table of polyatomic ions.

Cations and anions

What is the stock system?

The systematic method used to name ionic compounds is called the Stock system. It uses a Roman numeral in parentheses after the name of the metal to indicate the charge. There is no space between the metal name and the parentheses containing the Roman numeral.

In the stock system, the name of the metal is changed by adding a suffix, either ____ or ___, to the root of the original Latin name for the metal.

-ous, -ic

The suffix _____ indicates the lower of two charges, and the suffix ___ indicates the higher.

-ous, ic