Samar College

Catbalogan City

Final requirments
In
Chemistry 1
(genn.chemistry)
Writing chemical compound

Submmited by:
Mabulay,Nelson G.
Submmited to:
Ms.Norma M. Uy

SY-2016-2017
1st semester
Daily/9:30-11-30am

Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Elizabeth (Nikki) Wyman

Nikki has a master's degree in teaching chemistry and has taught high school chemistry, biology and
astronomy.

In this lesson, you will learn how to write the chemical formulas for both binary ionic
compounds and polyatomic ionic compounds when you are given only the name of the
compound. You will see that it is actually quite simple when you learn the steps described in this
lesson.

Sample Binary Ionic Compounds

Before you start this video, it is helpful to know how to name an ionic compound based on its
chemical formula. In this lesson, you will learn how to start with the name of the ionic compound and
turn it in to a chemical formula.
Binary ionic compounds are fairly simple. An ionic compound is a neutrally charged compound that
is made up of bonded ions, a cation and an anion. The cation has a positive charge, and the anion
has a negative charge. When the two combine into a compound, that compound does not have an
overall charge. NaCl is an example. Na+ (a cation with a +1 charge) combines with Cl- (an anion
with a -1 charge) to make NaCl (sodium chloride).
Before you learn the steps for writing a chemical formula, I'd like to remind you how to determine the
charge on an ion. For the representative elements, the charge of the ion is related to the column or
group that the element is in.

Group IA elements have only one valence electron, so when they lose that electron they will
have a +1 charge.

Group IIA elements have two valence electrons. When they lose their two valence electrons
they will have a +2 charge.

Group IIIA elements have three valence electrons. They lose their three electrons to form +3
ions.

Group IVA elements are somewhat of an exception to the trend. Tin (SN) and lead (PB) can
lose multiple electrons to form differently charged ions. Carbon, silicon and germanium rarely
form ions.

Group VA elements have five valence electrons. Instead of losing these five electrons, Group
VA elements will gain three electrons to have a -3 charge.

Group VIA elements have six valence electrons and gain two electrons to have a -2 charge.

Group VIIA elements have seven electrons in their outer shell. These elements gain one
electron to have a -1 charge.

Transition metals are elements that live in groups IB to XB. These metals are capable of losing
different numbers of electrons and can take multiple ionic forms. The names of transition metal ions
contain Roman numerals to indicate the ions' charge.
For example, lead (II) nitrate contains a +2 lead ion: Pb2+. Vanadium (IV) oxide contains a +4
vanadium ion: V4+.

Ionic Compounds
If you have to write the chemical formula of a simple, binary ionic compound given the name of the
compound, you follow a set of three steps. Let's go through them using magnesium chloride as an
example.
1. Write the symbols for the cation and the anion: Mg and Cl.
2. Determine the charge on the cation and anion. If the cation has a Roman numeral after it,
that is the charge on that cation. Cations receive Roman numerals when they can take more
than one ionic form. If there is no Roman numeral, you can determine the charge from the
cation's position on the periodic table. Such is the case with magnesium. Magnesium is in
column IIA so it has a charge of +2. Magnesium 2+: Mg2+. Chlorine is in column VIIA so it
has a charge of -1: Cl-.
3. Determine formula. Write the two symbols together and determine how to make the
compound neutral by finding the lowest common multiple of the charges on each ion. Then
figure out how atoms of each element are needed to make that charge. Mg2+ Cl-. The lowest
common multiple is two. To get a charge of two on magnesium, you multiply it by one - (2 * 1
= 2). So, just one magnesium. To get a charge of two on chloride, which has a -1 charge, you
need to multiply it by two - (1 * 2 = 2). So you will have two chloride ions, or Cl2.
1. Alternative step 3: the drop and swap method. The magnitude of the charge on the
ion becomes the number of the opposite ion needed. Ignoring + and - signs, drop the
number of the charge to subscript position: Mg2 Cl. If the charge on the ion is simply
one, you can ignore it. Now swap the subscript's places: Mg Cl2. Now you have your
formula.

Binary Examples
Let's try an example: sodium oxide.
1. Write Na and O.

2. Write Na+ and O2-.

3. Na+ O2-. The lowest common multiple is two. To get a charge of two on sodium, which has a
+1 charge, you need to multiply it by 2, (1 * 2 = 2). So you will have two sodium atoms or
Na2. To get a charge of 2 on the oxygen, you multiply it by one - (2 * 1 = 2). So just one O.
The final formula is Na2O.
If we want to do the drop and swap method instead, we go back to step 2, where we had our ions
and their charges: Na+ O2-. First we ignore + and - signs, then drop the number of the charge down
to subscript position: Na O2. Since the charge on sodium is just one, we don't need to put anything
down. Now we swap the subscript's places. Na2 O. Now we have our formula.

Writing Ionic Compound Formulas: Binary & Polyatomic

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IMPLICATION OF WRITING CHEMICAL COMPOUND

At the heart of chemistry are substances elements or compounds which
have a definite composition which is expressed by a chemical formula. In
this unit you will learn how to write and interpret chemical formulas both
in terms of moles and masses, and to go in the reverse direction, in which

we use experimental information about the composition of a compound to

work out a formula.

IMPLICATION OF IMPACT OF CHEMISTRY ON

SOCIETY
I learned that Chemistry has impacted society by aiding technological advancements,
advancing the medical field, fortifying national defense and assisting in biological

breakthroughs. Moreover, just within the last two centuries, chemistry has played a
major part in the development of nuclear technology and electronics.