Naming salts

2018-01-30T09:19:02+02:00

Any and all ionic compounds are called salts. All salt particles consist of a positive ion and a negative ion, held together by the same rule that makes balloons stick to walls. Applying the logic of Bonding in the periodic table,

all metals form positive ions

The atoms of Group I: Alkali metals form ions of charge 1+ by donating a single electron.
The atoms of Group II: Alkaline earth metals form ions of charge 2+ by donating two electrons.

all nonmetals form negative ions

The atoms of Group VII: Halogens form ions of charge 1− by gaining one additional electron.
The atoms of Group VI: Oxygen form ions of charge 2− by gaining two additional electrons.

The key to balancing these salty reactions is to balance the charges on both ions in the compound. For example,

Ca, calcium (kalsium) forms the ion [[$\text{Ca}^{2+}$]]
O, oxygen (happi) forms the ion [[$\text{O}^{2−}$]]
As the charges match, the formula for calcium oxide is [[$\text{CaO}$]].

However,

Li, lithium (litium) forms the ion [[$\text{Li}^{1+}$]]
S, sulfur (rikki) forms the ion [[$\text{S}^{2−}$]]
As there must be twice the amount of lithium ions compared to oxide ions, the formula for lithium sulfide is [[$\text{Li}_2\text{S}$]].

Furthermore,

Mg, magnesium forms the ion [[$\text{Mg}^{2+}$]]
N, nitrogen (typpi) forms the ion [[$\text{N}^{3−}$]]
To cancel the charge, the balanced formula for magnesium nitride is [[$\text{Mg}_3\text{N}_2$]].

Special ions

2018-09-11T13:15:49+03:00

hydroxide ion	[[$\text{OH}^{-}$]]
sulphate ion	[[$\text{SO}_4^{2-}$]]
phosphate ion	[[$\text{PO}_4^{3-}$]]
nitrate ion	[[$\text{NO}_3^{-}$]]
carbonate ion	[[$\text{CO}_3^{2-}$]]
acetate ion	[[$\text{CH}_3\text{COO}^{-}$]]
ammonium ion	[[$\text{NH}_4^{+}$]]

Note that a sulphate in Britain is a sulfate on the other side of the Atlantic!

From ions into salts

Naming salts

Special ions