Molecules and Ions

Only the six noble gases in Group 8A of the periodic table (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, 1. Monatomic ions: contain only one atom
and Rn) exist in nature as single atom (monatomic). Most matter is Ex. Mg2+, Fe3+, S2-, and N3-
composed of molecules or ions formed by atoms. 2. Polyatomic ions: contain more than one atom
Ex. OH-, CN-, and NH4+
Molecule: an electrically neutral group of two or more atoms held together
Ionic Compound: formed from cations and anions
by chemical bonds.
Ex. NaCl
1. Diatomic molecule: contains only two atoms
Ex. N2, O2, F2, Cl2, Br2, I2, H2, HCl, CO Chemical Formulas
2. Polyatomic molecule: contains more than two atoms Chemical formulas: used to express the composition of molecules and ionic
compounds in terms of chemical symbols
Ex. H2O, NH3, O3
Two types of formulas: molecular formulas and empirical formulas
* All compounds are molecules, but not all molecules are compounds
1. Molecular formula shows the exact number of atoms of each element in
Ex.
the smallest unit of a substance.
C6H6
C60 2. Empirical formula tells us which elements are present and the simplest
whole-number ratio of their atoms, but not necessarily the actual number
Ion: an atom or a group of atoms that has a net positive or negative charge. of atoms in a given molecule.

Cation: an ion with a net positive charge due to loss of electron Example
Ex.
1. Molecular Formula- H2O2
Na Atom Na+ Ion Empirical Formula-
11 protons 11 protons
11 electrons 10 electrons 2. Molecular Formula- N2H4
Empirical Formula-
Anion: an ion whose net charge is negative due to gain of electron
Ex.
Cl Atom Cl- Ion For many molecules, the molecular formula and the empirical formula are
17 protons 17 protons same. Ex. water (H2O), ammonia (NH3), carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane
17 electrons 18 electrons (CH4).

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 Activity 1 Activity 2

Write the empirical formulas for the following molecules: Write the formulas of the following ionic compounds:
(a) acetylene (C2H2), which is used in welding torches
(a) chromium sulfate (containing the Cr3+ and SO42- ions)
(b) glucose (C6H12O6), a substance known as blood sugar
(b) titanium oxide (containing the Ti4+ and O2- ions)
(c) nitrous oxide (N2O), a gas that is used as an anesthetic gas (“laughing
(c) magnesium nitride (containing the Mg2+ and N3- ions)
gas”) and as an aerosol propellant for whipped creams

(d) caffeine (C8H10N4O2), a stimulant found in tea and coffee

Formula of Ionic Compounds Naming Compounds

The formulas of ionic compounds are usually the same as their empirical
Inorganic Compounds
formulas
1. Ionic compounds
The subscript of the cation is numerically equal to the charge on the anion,
and the subscript of the anion is numerically equal to the charge on the • Ionic compounds are made up of cations (positive ions) and anions
cation. (negative ions).
• All cations of interest to us are derived from metal atoms except
Ex.
ammonium ion, NH4+
1.Potassium bromide 4. Magnesium hydroxide
• Many ionic compounds are binary compounds—compounds formed
K+, Cl- Mg2+, OH-
from just two elements.
KCl Mg(OH)2
• For binary compounds, the first element named is the metal cation,
2. Zinc iodide followed by the nonmetallic anion
Zn2+, I- • The anion is named by taking the first part of the element name and
ZnI2 adding “-ide.”
Example
3. Aluminum oxide
KBr - Potassium bromide
Al3+, O2-
ZnI2- Zinc iodide
Al2O3
Al2O3- Aluminum oxide
For ionic compounds to be electrically neutral, the sum of the charges on
the cation and anion in each formula unit must be zero.

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• For ternary compounds—compounds consisting of three elements, Table 1: Names and Formulas of Some Common Inorganic Cations and
the “-ide” ending is also used for certain anion groups containing Anions
different elements Cation Anion
Example
aluminum (Al3+) bromide (Br-)
LiOH- Lithium hydroxide ammonium (NH4+) carbonate (CO32-)
KCN- Potassium cyanide barium (Ba2+) chlorate (ClO3-)
• Certain metals, especially the transition metals, can form more than cadmium (Cd2+) chloride (Cl-)
one type of cation calcium (Ca2+) chromate (CrO42-)
Example cesium (Cs+) cyanide (CN-)
Fe2+ ferrous ion chromium(III) or chromic (Cr3+) dichromate (Cr2O72-)
Fe3+ ferric ion cobalt(II) or cobaltous (Co2+) dihydrogen phosphate (H2PO4-)
FeCl2 ferrous chloride cobalt(III) or cobaltic (Co3+) fluoride (F-)
FeCl3 ferric chloride copper(I) or cuprous (Cu+) hydride (H-)
The “-ous” and “-ic” designations provide names for only two copper(II) or cupric (Cu2+) hydrogen carbonate or
iron(II) or ferrous (Fe2+) bicarbonate (HCO3-)
different elemental cations
iron(III) or ferric (Fe3+) hydrogen phosphate (HPO42-)
Some metallic elements can assume three or more different
lead(II) or plumbous (Pb2+) hydrogen sulfate or bisulfate
positive charges in compounds. Therefore, it has become lead(IV) or plumbic (Pb4+) (HSO4-)
increasingly common to designate different cations with Roman lithium (Li+) hydroxide (OH-)
numerals (Stock system) magnesium (Mg2+) iodide (I-)
Example manganese(II) or manganous (Mn2+) nitrate (NO3-)
Mn2+: MnO manganese(II) oxide mercury(I) or mercurous (Hg22+) nitride (N3-)
Mn3+: Mn2O3 manganese(III) oxide mercury(II) or mercuric (Hg2+) nitrite (NO2-)
Mn4+: MnO2 manganese(IV) oxide potassium (K+) oxide (o2-)
rubidium (Rb+) permanganate (MnO4-)
Using the Stock system, we denote the ferrous ion and the ferric ion silver (Ag+) peroxide (O22-)
as iron(II) and iron(III), respectively; ferrous chloride becomes sodium (Na+) phosphate (PO43-)
iron(II) chloride; and ferric chloride is called iron(III) chloride. strontium (Sr2+) sulfate (SO42-)
tin(II) or stannous (Sn2+) sulfide (S2-)
tin(IV) or stannic (Sn4+) sulfite (SO32-)
zinc (Zn2+) thiocyanate (SCN-)

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Activity 3

Complete the table below:

Cl- SO42- OH-

K+ Potassium chloride Potassium sulfate Potassium hydroxide

KCl K2SO4 KOH

Na+

Ca2+

Mg2+

Activity 4 Activity 5

Name the following compounds: Write chemical formulas for the following compounds:

(a) Cu(NO3)2 (a) mercury(I) nitrite

(b) KH2PO4 (b) cesium sulfide

(c) NH4ClO3 (c) calcium phosphate

(d) PbO (d) rubidium sulfate

(e) Li2SO3 (e) barium hydride.

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2. Molecular compounds NO2 nitrogen dioxide
N2O4 dinitrogen tetroxide
• Molecular compounds are usually composed of nonmetallic
• Exceptions to the use of Greek prefixes are molecular compounds
elements
containing hydrogen
• Many molecular compounds are binary compounds
B2H6 diborane
• Naming binary molecular compounds is similar to naming binary CH4 methane
ionic compounds SiH4 silane
Example NH3 ammonia
HCl hydrogen chloride PH3 phosphine
HBr hydrogen bromide H2O water
SiC silicon carbide H2S hydrogen sulfide

• It is quite common for one pair of elements to form several Activity 6

different compounds
Use Greek prefixes to avoid confusion 1. Name the following molecular compounds:
(a) SiCl4
Table 2: Greek Prefixes Used in Naming Molecular Compounds
Prefix Meaning (b) P4O10
mono- 1
di- 2
tri- 3 (c) NF3
tetra- 4
penta- 5
hexa- 6 (d) Cl2O7
hepta- 7 2. Write chemical formulas for the following molecular compounds:
octa- 8 (a) carbon disulfide
nona- 9
deca- 10 (b) disilicon hexabromide

(c) sulfur tetrafluoride

1. The prefix “mono-” may be omitted for the first element
2. For oxides, the ending “a” in the prefix is sometimes omitted (d) dinitrogen pentoxide
Example
CO carbon monoxide
CO2 carbon dioxide Reference
SO2 sulfur dioxide Chang, R. (2010). Chemistry (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies,
SO3 sulfur trioxide Inc.
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