What is Chemical Formula, Chemical

name and Structural Formula?

Chemical formula as a symbolic expression of a compound or
substance.

Chemical name is the scientific name given to a chemical in

accordance with the nomenclature system developed by the
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
Structural formula is a graphical representation of the molecular structure
showing how the atoms are possibly arranged in the real three-dimensional
space.
How to write the Chemical Formula, Chemical Name and
Structural Formula of Compounds?

Compound is a substance which is made up of two or more atoms

joined together by a chemical bond.

The two classification of compounds are ionic compound and

covalent compound.
Ionic compound
Ionic compound is formed between a metal atom and a nonmetal
atom, and the type of intramolecular bond exist between atoms is
ionic bond due to the presence of ionic charges.
Ionic compound
An ion that consist of only one atom is referred to as monatomic ion.
Different atom can also combine and form polyatomic ions

monatomic ion : Na+, Mg2+, Fe3+, S2-, Cl-

polyatomic ions: MnO4-, PO43-, HCO3-
 ION STOCK NAME CLASSICAL NAME
Charges of Transition Metals
Hg2 2+ Mercury (I) Mercurous
ION STOCK NAME CLASSICAL NAME
3+ Hg 2+ Mercury (II) Mercuric
As Arsenic (III) Arsenous
5+ Mn 2+ Manganese (II) Manganous
As Arsenic (V) Arsenic
+ Mn 3+ Manganese (III) Manganic
Au Gold (I) Aurous
3+ Ni 2+ Nickel (II) Nickelous
Au Gold (III) Auric
2+ Ni 3+ Nickel (III) Nickelic
Co Cobalt (II) Cobaltous
3+ Pb 2+ Lead (II) Plumbous
Co Cobalt (III) Cobaltic
+ Pb 4+ Lead (IV) Plumbic
Cu Copper (I) Cuprous
2+ Pt 2+ Platinum (II) Platinous
Cu Copper (II) Cupric
2+ Pt 4+ Platinum (IV) Platinic
Cr Chromium (II) Chromous
3+ Sb 3+ Antimony (III) Antimonous
Cr Chromium (III) Chromic
Sb 4+ Antimony (IV) Antimonic
Fe 2+ Iron(II) Ferrous
Sn 2+ Tin (II) Stannous
Fe 3+ Iron (III) Ferric
Sn 4+ Tin (IV) Stannic
Writing and Naming the Chemical Name or Compound

Binary compounds- formed between two elements- metal and

non-metals. They are made up of ions.

1. Write the unmodified name of the metal

2. The name of the nonmetal, modified to end in “ide”
Example: NaCl
Roots for common nonmetals
ELEMENT ROOT
Bromine Brom-
Carbon Carb-
Chlorine Chlor-
Fluorine Flour-
Hydrogen Hydr-
Iodine Iod-
Nitrogen Nitr-
Oxygen Ox-
Phosphorus Phosp-
Sulfur Sulf-
Example: Given the chemical formula, write the
chemical name
1. Al
Al22OO33: : aluminum (metal) + oxygen(non-metal)
Al3+ O2+

Chemical name: aluminum oxide

2.
2. MgI
MgI22: magnesium(metal) + iodine(non-metal)
Mg2+ I-

Chemical name: magnesium iodide

Writing and Naming the Chemical Name or Compound
Transition metals (Group 1B-Group 8B) between in the periodic
table vary in the number of electrons they tend to lose resulting in a
variety of electrical of their ions
1. Write the name of the metal in a classical method or stock method
2. The name of the nonmetal, modified to end in “ide”
For Classical Method:
The ion with the lower charges ends with –ous, while that with higher charges ends with
–ic.These suffixes are attached to the first few syllables of the foreign name of the metal.

For Stock Method:

A Roman numeral indicating the charge is written in parentheses after the English name
of the metal
Writing and Naming the Chemical Name or Compound
Transition metals (Group 1B-Group 8B) between in the periodic
table vary in the number of electrons they tend to lose resulting in a
variety of electrical of their ions
1. Write the name of the metal in a classical method or stock method
2. The name of the nonmetal, modified to end in “ide”

Classical Stock
Fe2+ ferrous iron (II)
Fe3+ ferric iron (III)
Example: Given the chemical formula, write the
chemical name

Fe2O3 Iron (metal) Oxygen (non-metal)

Fe3+ O2-

For classical: Ferric oxide

For Stock: Iron (III) oxide
Example: Given the chemical formula, write the
chemical name

1. Fe2S3 ferric sulfide/ iron (III) sulfide

2. FeO ferrous sulfide/ iron (II) sulfide

3. CrCl3 chromic chloride/ chromium (III) chloride

4. Cu2O cuprous oxide/copper (I) oxide

Naming Compounds with polyatomic ions

Simple combine the name of cations and

the name of anions.
Do not use numerical prefixes in the name if there is
more than one polyatomic ion; the only exception to
this is if the name of the ion itself contains a
numerical prefix, such as dichromate or triiodide.
Example: Given the chemical formula, write the
chemical name
1. MgCO3: Mg2+ CO32-

Chemical name: magnesium carbonate

2. Al2(SO4)3: Al3+ SO42-

Chemical name: aluminum sulfate

Example: Given the chemical formula, write the
chemical name
3. (NH4)2SO4: NH4 + SO42-

Chemical name: ammonium sulfate

4. Ca(OH)2: Ca 2+ OH -

Chemical name: calcium hydroxide

Example: Given the chemical formula, write the
chemical name
5. NiCO3: Ni2+ CO32-

Chemical name: nickel (II) carbonate

6. Cr2(SO4)3: Cr3+ SO42-

Chemical name: chromium (III) sulfate

Example: Given the chemical formula, write the
chemical name

1.Sr(HCO3)2 strontium bicarbonate

2.Fe2(SO4)3 iron (III) sulfate
3.KNO3 potassium nitrate
 Some ionic compounds have water molecules
incorporated in their structure and are called
hydrated salts.
Hydrate- indicates the number of water
molecules per formula unit of the salt.

Example: CuSO4 . 5H2O

Cu 2+ SO4 2- 5H2O
Stock name: copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate
Covalent Compound
Covalent compound is formed between two or more nonmetal
atoms, and the type of intramolecular bond that exist between
atoms is covalent bond.
1.The first element is
prefixed and named in full.

2. The second element is

prefixed and named using
its first few syllables and
suffixed with “ide”
Note: The letter ‘a’ in the
prefix is usually dropped
when followed by a
vowel…

Roots for common Prefixes to be used on

Tetraoxide- tetroxide nonmetals covalent compound
Example:
N2O4 Dinitrogen tetroxide
SO2 Sulfur dioxide
CO2 carbon dioxide
SO3 Sulfur trioxide
Hydrogen and non-metal
A binary compound which is composed of hydrogen and a more
electronegative element is named like any other binary compound
of non-metals But, the word hydrogen comes first; then second
word is made by affixing the suffix –ide to the root of non-metal.

For example:
HCl- hydrogen chloride
HI- hydrogen iodide
Hydrogen and non-metal
When these substances are dissolved in water, they
become aqueous acids.
The prefix hydro is attached to the root word of the nonmetal and
the suffix –ic is added. The word acid becomes the last term.
For example:
HCl (aq)- hydrochloric acid
HI(aq) – hydroiodic acid
Ternary acids
A ternary acids forms from a polyatomic ions. The acid
name is based on the polyatomic ion; the suffix ite is
replaced with ous and ate is replaced with ic.

For example:
NO nitrite ------ HNO2 nitrous acid
2-

NO - nitrate ------HNO3 nitric acid

3
Writing and Naming the Chemical Formula Given the Chemical
Name
FORMAT FOR IONIC COMPOUND

Step 1. Atoms involved

Step2. Chemical Symbol
Step 3. Formed Ion (Ion Charges)
Step 4. Criss-cross multiply the charges
Step 5. Remove the sign to determine the chemical formula
Writing and Naming the Chemical Formula Given the Chemical
Name
FORMAT FOR IONIC COMPOUND
Example: Sodium chloride
Step 1. Atoms involved sodium chlorine
Step2. Chemical Symbol Na Cl
Step 3. Formed Ion (Ion Charges) Na +1 Cl-1

Step 4. Criss-cross multiply the charges 1 1

Step 5. Remove the sign to determine Na1Cl1 or NaCl
the chemical formula
Writing and Naming the Chemical Formula Given the Chemical
Name
FORMAT FOR IONIC COMPOUND
Example: Lead (II) nitrate
Step 1. Atoms involved Lead nitrate
Step2. Chemical Symbol Pb NO3
Step 3. Formed Ion (Ion Charges) Pb 2+ NO3 -1

Step 4. Criss-cross multiply the charges 1 2

Step 5. Remove the sign to determine Pb1(NO3)2 or Pb(NO3)2
the chemical formula
Writing and Naming the Chemical Formula Given the Chemical
Name
FORMAT FOR IONIC COMPOUND
Example: Potassium chromate
Step 1. Atoms involved Potassium chromate
Step2. Chemical Symbol K CrO4
Step 3. Formed Ion (Ion Charges) K + CrO4 2-

Step 4. Criss-cross multiply the charges 2 1

Step 5. Remove the sign to determine K2CrO4 or K2CrO4
the chemical formula
Writing and Naming the Chemical Formula Given the Chemical
Name
Writing and Naming the Chemical Formula Given the Chemical
Name
FORMAT FOR COVALENT COMPOUND
Example: carbon tetrachloride
Step 1. Atoms involved carbon chlorine
Step2. Chemical Symbol C Cl
Step 3. Number of atoms 1 4
Step. (combined the chemical and C1 Cl4
number of atoms
Step 5. Remove the sign to determine C1Cl4 or CCl4
the chemical formula
Directions: Write and name the chemical compound of
the following:

1. Aluminum Chloride 1. Fe(NO3)3

2. Chromium (VI) Phosphate 2. Sn(NO2)2
3. Ammonium sulfate 3. AgBr
4. Lithium Bromide 4. V2 S5