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III - 2
Note that there would be no sodium or chlorine atoms present in the compound,
only the ions derived from them. While the resulting compound of formula Na+Cl
is also known commonly as salt, the term SALT is a general one which applies
to any ionic compound, not just to sodium chloride.
Combining ratios and formulas of ionic compounds.
The ionic compound formed must be electrically neutral, so the ratio of the number
of Na+ ions to the number of Cl ions present in sodium chloride must be 1:1,
resulting in the formula Na+Cl as the simplest for this compound. Analysis of the
compound sodium chloride would always show it to consist of sodium ions and
chloride ions present in this ratio of 1:1. In Topic 1 it was pointed out that all the
halogen elements including chlorine occur as diatomic molecules and not single
atoms. Thus in forming sodium chloride, 1 molecule of chlorine, written as Cl 2,
would react with 2 atoms of sodium to form 2Cl and 2Na+ ions in order that the
ratio of + charge to ! charge be 1:1. However, in writing the formula, the simplest
whole-number ratio of cation and anion is used. Thus although the formula
Na+ 2Cl 2 still has a Na+:Cl ratio of 1:1, the formula should be written as Na+Cl.
As was discussed in Topic 2, some cations may have a charge larger than +1, for
example Ca2+ and Al3+ . Similarly, some anions such as O2 and N3 have more than
a single negative charge. Again, when ionic compounds involving such species are
formed, the overall charge on the resulting compound must be zero. This is
achieved if the cations and anions are formed and therefore combine in the
appropriate ratio so that the total size of the charge on the cations equals the total
size of the charge on the anions. For example, the ionic compound calcium
chloride which results from the reaction between calcium and chlorine consists of
Ca2+ ions and Cl ions which are present in the compound in the ratio of 1 calcium
ion to 2 chloride ions. The formula for calcium chloride is therefore Ca2+Cl 2.
[Note the use of the subscripted 2 to show that there are 2 chloride ions present in
the formula. It is incorrect to write this as Ca2+2Cl or Ca2+Cl2 ].
In this formula, 2 Cl ions carry a total charge = 2! while the single Ca2+ ion carries
a charge = 2+. Thus electrical neutrality is preserved in the compound.
The ionic compound lithium oxide contains Li+ ions and O2 ions in the ratio of 2
lithium ions to 1 oxide ion so that the total charge on the compound is zero. The
formula of lithium oxide then must be Li+ 2O2, the subscripted 2 being used to
indicate that there are two Li+ ions in the formula.
Likewise, the ionic compound aluminium oxide containing Al3+ ions and O2 ions
has the formula Al3+ 2O2 3 so that the total positive charge (6 +) exactly equals the
total negative charge (6 !).
III - 3
In this section, the formulas of all ionic compounds shown have included the
charge on the cation and anion as superscripts, e.g. Na+Cl. However, this is not
normal practice and it is understood that the compound of formula NaCl contains
the Na+ and Cl ions. At this stage, it may be helpful to continue the practice of
showing the charges on the ions in the compounds, but in due course you should
delete them, and they will not be shown here in future.
The following examples illustrate a process frequently used for obtaining correctly
balanced formulas for ionic compounds.
1. Deduce the formula for sodium oxide.
Na+ and O2
Second step: write the unbalanced formula with the cation first and anion second
Na+ O2
Third step: obtain the subscripts for each ion by using the magnitude of the charge
on one ion as the subscript of the other
which gives (Na+)2O2
Na 1
O2
i.e. Na2O
Finally, check that the charges have been balanced by multiplying the number of
each ion present by its charge. The sum of these must be zero.
correctly balanced formula.
Using the above method, the ions present are Al3+ and O2
Thus the formula is
Al 3
O2
i.e. Al 2O 3
III - 4
Symbol
Ion
Symbol
Ion
Symbol
silver(I)
Ag+
zinc
Zn2+
iron(II)
Fe2+
copper(I)
Cu+
lead(II)
Pb2+
iron(III)
Fe3+
copper(II)
Cu2+
cobalt(II)
Co2+
cadmium
Cd2+
tin(II)
Sn2+
chromium(III)
Cr3+
mercury(II)
Hg2+
tin(IV)
Sn4+
manganese(II)
Mn2+
nickel(II)
Ni2+
bismuth(III)
Bi3+
gold(III)
Au3+
platinum(II)
Pt2+
III - 5
KI
CaF2
Rb2O
BaS
Mg3N2
CuCl2
SnS
Fe2O3
AuCl3
2.
Understand that the formula for an ionic compound must contain an equal
number of +ve and !ve charges and therefore be electrically neutral.
3.
III - 6
SUMMARY
Chemical bonds form between atoms through redistribution of some of the
electrons between them. In one form of bond, ionic bonding, one or more electrons
are transferred from a metal atom to an atom of a non-metal. The resultant cation
and anion are then held together by the electrostatic attraction between the opposite
charges they carry. This process of electron transfer results in the cation and anion
attaining the particularly stable noble gas electron structure. Ionic compounds
must have overall electrical neutrality and so the cations and anions form and
combine in a ratio such that the total cation charge is equal in magnitude to the total
anion charge. Their formulas are the simplest whole number ratio of cation and
anion that will satisfy this requirement, written as subscripts following each
component elements symbol.
The ionic charge that an atom of an element is likely to exhibit when it forms an
ionic compound can be deduced from the group of elements to which it belongs.
Referring to the Table 2 of Topic 1, all of the first group of elements have 1
electron more than the noble gas structure and so they form +1 cations, all of the
second group have 2 more electrons than the noble gas structure so they form +2
cations when in ionic compounds and similarly, elements of the third group mostly
form +3 cations. Once the noble gas structure has been attained, too much energy
(known as the ionization energy) would be required for further electrons to be
removed. Thus cations with a charge greater than 3+ are rare as they would require
too much energy to form and would generally be unstable. Atoms of the seventh
group, cant form cations but being short of the noble gas structure by 1 electron
can form anions by gaining 1 electron to form 1 anions. The sixth group being
short of the noble gas structure by 2 electrons, form 2 anions, etc. Once the noble
gas structure has been attained, no further electrons can be gained and simple
anions bearing a charge greater than 3 do not form.
Some metals can form cations with more than one charged state, for example Fe2+
and Fe3+ . Such cations require the addition of a Roman numeral in brackets to their
name so that there is no ambiguity as to which ion is present.
Naming binary ionic compounds (compounds containing only two elements)
follows some simple rules. The cation and anion are named separately in that
order. The cation takes the same name as its element with the addition of the
Roman numeral to indicate the charge it bears if necessary. The anion takes its
name from a stem of its element to which the ending ide is added.
(ii)
(iii)
III - 7
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
(x)
(xi)
(xii)
silver(I) iodide
(ii)
magnesium chloride
(iii)
copper(II) oxide
(iv)
copper(I) oxide
(v)
barium nitride
(vi)
manganese(II) sulfide
(vii)
mercury(II) oxide
aluminium oxide
(x)
iron(III) chloride
III - 8
AgCl
(ii)
Mg3N2
(iii)
CaBr2
(iv)
Al2O3
(v)
CuCl2
(vi)
PbO
(vii)
MnS
(viii) ZnI2
(ix)
KCl
(x)
Ca3P2
(xi)
CrCl3
(xii)
BaSe
(xiii) CoCl2
(xiv) Fe2O3
(xv)
FeCl2
(xvi) SrI2
(xvii) SnBr2
(xviii) MgO
(xix) Rb3N
(xx)
LiF
(xxi) PtBr2
(xxii) Bi2O3
(xxiii) AuCl3
5. Give the formula for each of the following binary compounds.
(i)
cadmium fluoride
(ii)
strontium chloride
(iii)
cobalt(II) sulfide
(iv)
lead(II) iodide
(v)
tin(II) oxide
(vi)
iron(III) oxide
(vii)
chromium(III) nitride
(ix)
potassium oxide
(x)
sodium phosphide
III - 9
Na
Cl
DOWN
2.
iron(III) chloride
3.
lithium oxide
6.
tin(IV) oxide
7.
potassium iodide
8.
sodium selenide
10. calcium fluoride
12. potassium sulfide
14. strontium chloride
15. rubidium oxide
17. barium bromide
18. platinum
19. caesium selenide
21. copper(II) iodide
22. aluminium nitride
23. silver(I) sulfide
24. radon
25. nickel(II) fluoride
28. xenon
29. iron(II) chloride
30. strontium nitride
31. krypton
32. zinc bromide
33. barium phosphide
34. nitrogen (molecule)
35. arsenic
37. cadmium iodide
38. magnesium phosphide
39. neon
40. lead(II) fluoride
41. nickel(II) nitride
42. mercury(II) selenide
44. tin(II) chloride
45. iron(II) nitride
46. zinc oxide
47. mercury(II) iodide
48. zinc phosphide
III - 10
49.
50.
51.
52.
54.
56.
58.
59.
61.
62.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
74.
75.
76.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
85.
86.
87.
88.
90.
91.
93.
94.
95.
97.
98.
99.
100.
platinum(II) oxide
manganese(II) iodide
copper(II) nitride
calcium sulfide
lead(II) phosphide
iron(III) phosphide
tin(II) phosphide
bismuth(III) oxide
mercury(II) nitride
chromium(III) oxide
bismuth
nitrogen (molecule)
aluminium sulfide
copper(I) phosphide
iron(III) selenide
silver(I) phosphide
gold(III) nitride
ozone
caesium nitride
bismuth(III) bromide
rubidium nitride
iron(II) sulfide
sodium iodide
potassium phosphide
nickel(II) oxide
aluminium fluoride
sodium phosphide
copper(II) sulfide
lithium chloride
lithium nitride
magnesium oxide
lead(II) oxide
barium selenide
tin(II) sulfide
rubidium fluoride
strontium sulfide
cadmium oxide
tin(IV) chloride
calcium oxide
zinc sulfide
bismuth(III) nitride
49.
51.
53.
54.
55.
57.
58.
59.
60.
62.
63.
66.
67.
69.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
platinum(II) sulfide
copper(II) phosphide
aluminium phosphide
lead(II) nitride
gold(III) oxide
antimony
tin(II) nitride
bismuth(III) sulfide
ozone
chromium(III) selenide
lithium phosphide
aluminium oxide
copper(I) nitride
silver(I) nitride
caesium phosphide
manganese(II) sulfide
bismuth(III) iodide
rubidium phosphide
iron(II) oxide
manganese
sodium fluoride
potassium nitride
nickel(II) sulfide
aluminium chloride
sodium nitride
copper(II) oxide
mercury(II) oxide
magnesium selenide
lead(II) sulfide
lead(IV) fluoride
barium sulfide
tin(II) oxide
lead
rubidium chloride
strontium oxide
cadmium sulfide
gold(III) nitride
III - 11
11
12
13
15
18
16
19
20
23
24
27
28
31
35
36
39
43
17
26
30
33
40
41
42
45
46
48
49
52
54
59
61
56
60
62
65
63
66
67
68
70
69
71
72
74
73
75
78
76
79
81
80
82
85
83
86
84
87
89
88
90
93
97
53
55
58
92
34
38
51
77
22
25
32
47
64
10
21
37
50
14
29
44
57
91
94
98
95
99
96
100
III - 12
X would be a metal as it has the same outer electron structure as the second
group of elements in Table 2 of Topic 1. The cation formed would be X2+.
2.
In each case, the first element is a metal and the second element is a nonmetal. Hence the resulting compound will be a salt containing the cation of
the metal and the anion of the non-metal. It is necessary to deduce the
charge on each ion so that a balanced formula for the resulting compound
can be written correctly.
For example, in (i), lithium (Li) is in the first group of elements and so it
always forms a +1 charged cation in compounds, Li+. Bromine is in the 7th
group, the halogens, and in ionic compounds the members of this group
always form a 1 charged anion, Br in this case. The balanced formula for
the compound will therefore require one Li+ to each Br ion, i.e. LiBr (or
Li+ Br if the charges are shown). The name of the compound will consist of
two words, the cation followed by the anion. The cation always takes the
same name as the metal element (lithium) and the anion is named by taking a
stem from the non-metals name and adding ide (bromide). Thus the
compound is lithium bromide.
In (v), the cation from magnesium is Mg2+ as magnesium is a member of the
second group while the anion from nitrogen, a member of the fifth group, is
N3 . To obtain the simplest charge-balanced formula, it is necessary to take
three Mg2+ ions (total positive charge = +6) and two N3 ions (total negative
charge 6). The balanced formula for the resultant compound is therefore
Mg3N2. Note that the number of each ion in the formula is given as a
subscript - it is not correct to write the formula as 3Mg2N. The name of the
compound is magnesium nitride.
(i) lithium bromide
(iii) aluminium fluoride
(v) magnesium nitride
(vii) caesium phosphide
(ix) calcium selenide
(xi) lithium oxide
(xiii) rubidium nitride
(xv) aluminium sulfide
(xvii) barium phosphide
(xix) potassium chloride
3.
LiBr
AlF3
Mg3N 2
Cs3P
CaSe
Li2O
Rb 3N
Al2S3
Ba3P2
KCl
BaO
Na 2S
RbCl
KI
SrCl2
MgBr 2
CaF 2
Cs 2Se
Na3N
SrI 2
Note the use of the Roman numerals where required to avoid ambiguity for
cations that can exist with more than one ionic charge. Thus copper(II) oxide
contains the Cu2+ ion while copper(I) oxide has the Cu+ cation present.
(i)
AgI
(ii)
MgCl2
(iii)
CuO
(iv)
Cu2O
(v)
Ba3N2
(vi)
MnS
(vii)
HgO
(viii) FeBr2
(ix)
Al2O 3
(x)
FeCl3
III - 13
4.
(i)
silver(I) chloride
(ii)
magnesium nitride
(iii)
calcium bromide
(iv)
aluminium oxide
(v)
copper(II) chloride
(vi)
lead(II) oxide
(vi)
manganese(II) sulfide
(ix)
potassium chloride
(x)
calcium phosphide
(xi)
chromium(III) chloride
(xii)
barium selenide
(xv)
iron(II) chloride
(xx)
5.
(i)
CdF2
(ii)
SrCl2
(iii)
CoS
(iv)
PbI2
(v)
SnO
(vi)
Fe2O 3
(vii)
CrN
(viii) CaBr2
(ix)
K 2O
(x)
Na3P
lithium fluoride
III - 14
Ni
Fe
Br
Li
Te
Ge
Cl
Rb
18
19
Pt
Cs
Ag
Se
35
As
Xe
Kr
Zn
Cd
40
Ne
Pb
Sn
Cu
Ni
Br
Cl
Cl
Ni
Fe
Zn
Cu
Pb
Sn
3
65
Bi
Mg
Pt
Ca
2
Cr
Al
Fe
53
Fe
Bi
3
63
Na
Se
Cs
Rb
Cl
Na
Li
Pb
Pb
Rb
73
Ni
Cu
Mg
Ba
Sr
98
Ca
O
84
Hg
Pb
91
Se
Sn
95
Cd
99
88
90
F
4
Fe
87
Mn
76
94
97
Cl
83
89
93
Ag
80
86
79
85
92
Cu
72
82
Li
67
78
81
60
75
Br
Al
56
69
O
Bi
Se
Au
71
Sn
Zn
49
74
Li
66
70
Hg
46
52
2
42
68
Al
34
55
Sr
Ba
59
Al
Cr
62
64
Mn
22
26
58
77
33
61
Au
Br
48
Hg
30
54
Sb
Cl
25
51
57
Ba
45
50
41
47
Hg
38
44
He
Ga
37
Ar
43
21
Fe
32
39
Sr
29
31
36
17
In
Rn
28
Ca
14
Tl
20
24
Mn
Se
23
27
Si
16
Sn
10
13
15
Cu
12
Na
11
Cr
Zn
96
Au
100
Bi