Naming Compounds

This week we learned how to name Type 1 and Type 2 Binary compounds.

Type 1 Compounds are ionic compounds in which the ions are always a specific cation or anion of that element. They involve pairing metals, which always form cations, with nonmetals, which always form anions. These compounds have a balanced charge. For example, AlF3 is a compound in which Aluminum forms a cation with a +3 charge, while one Fluorine atom forms a -1 charge. Therefore three fluorine are required to balance this compound's charge. In addition, this compound is named aluminum fluoride. The metal always goes in the front of the formula, and the nonmetal follows, with the suffix -ide.

Type 2 compounds are compounds in which the ions formed may be variable, because there are several kinds the element can form. This is seen mostly in the transition metals, such as iron, which can form a cation with a +2 or a +3 charge. These are differentiated by a roman numeral after the name which signifies the charge: Iron (II) is the iron cation with a +2 charge. The method for naming compounds remains the same except for the roman numerals. FeO is iron (II) oxide.