Naming Binary Compounds (Inorganic)

Chemists have developed a set method for naming compounds and writing formulae. Before naming any compound, you must determine what type of bond is present.

For metallic bonds…

SIMPLY NAME THE METAL ATOM. Easy peezy…

For covalent compounds…

1. Use the following prefixes to indicate the number:
   mono- 1 di- 2 tri- 3 tetra- 4 penta- 5 hexa- 6 hepta- 7 octa- 8 nona- 9 deca- 10
2. No prefix is used for the first element IF there’s only one atom.
3. Change the ending of the second element to -ide.
4. No a-o or o-o combinations… For example, CO is not carbon monooxide; it’s just carbon monoxide. One of the o’s is dropped. Likewise, drop the a for names like “pentaoxide.” It should just read “pentoxide.”