Cations and Anions

• Atoms of the metallic elements have relatively

weak attractions for their electrons, so they tend
to lose electrons and form monatomic cations
(cations composed of one atom, such as Na+).
• Atoms of the nonmetallic elements have
relatively strong attractions for electrons, so they
tend to gain electrons and form monatomic
anions (anions composed of one atom, such as
Cl-).
• Therefore, when metallic and nonmetallic atoms
combine, they usually form ions and ionic bonds.
Predicting Ion
Charges

• Noble gas atoms are very stable, so when

the nonmetallic atoms form anions, they
gain enough electrons to get the same
number of electrons as the nearest larger
noble gas atom.
• When the aluminum and the metallic atoms
in Groups 1, 2, and 3 form cations, they lose
enough electrons to get the same number of
electrons as the nearest smaller noble gas
atom.
The Making of
an Anion
The Making
of a Cation
Monatomic
Ions
Monatomic
Ion Names

• Monatomic Cations
– (name of metal)
• Groups 1, 2, and 3 metals
• Al3+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Ag+
– (name of metal)(Roman numeral)
• All metallic cations not mentioned above
• Monatomic Anions
– (root of nonmetal name)ide
Monatomic
Anions

hydride, H− fluoride, F−
nitride, N3− chloride, Cl−
phosphide, P3− bromide, Br−
oxide, O2− iodide, I−
sulfide, S2−
selenide, Se2−
Sodium Chloride,
NaCl, Structure
Cesium chloride,
CsCl, Structure

• Because the cesium ions are larger than sodium

ions, there is room for eight chloride ions around
each cesium ion and eight cesium ions around
each chloride ion.
Polyatomic
Ions

• Some anions and cations contain more than one

atom.
• Polyatomic ion = a charge collection of atoms held
together by covalent bonds
• For example, it is possible for a nitrogen atom to
form covalent bonds to four hydrogen atoms, but to
make this possible the nitrogen atom has to lose an
electron, giving the collection of atoms a plus one
charge. This will be explained in more detail in a
later lesson. This collection of atoms with the
formula NH4+ is called the ammonium ion.
CsCl and
NH4Cl structure
Polyatomic
Ions

Ion Name Ion Name

NH4+ ammonium NO3− nitrate

OH− hydroxide SO42− sulfate

CO32− carbonate C2H3O2− acetate

PO43− phosphate
Polyatomic Ions
with Hydrogen

• HCO3− hydrogen carbonate (bicarbonate)

• HSO4− hydrogen sulfate
• HS− hydrogen sulfide
• HPO42− hydrogen phosphate
• H2PO4− dihydrogen phosphate
Recognizing
Ionic Formulas
and Names
• Different types of compounds have different
guidelines for writing their names or formulas.
• Therefore, the first step in converting between
names and formulas for chemical compounds is
classifying them with respect to type.
• The simplest way to identify a formula as
representing an ionic compound is to see a symbol
for a metal or NH4 at the beginning of the formula.
• The simplest way to identify a name as representing
an ionic compound is to see the name of a metal or
ammonium at the beginning of the name.
Recognizing
Binary Ionic
Compounds
• Binary means two, and in the case of binary ionic
compounds, the word binary means two elements, a
metallic element and a nonmetallic element.
• If a formula has a symbol for a metal and a symbol for
a nonmetal, it’s a binary ionic compound composed of
a monatomic cation and a monatomic anion.
Converting
Ionic Names
to Formulas
• Ionic compound names include the name of the
cation followed by the name of the anion.
• The following table summarizes cation names.
Metals with one possible name of metal
charge (Al, Zn, Cd, (Ag),
and Groups 1, 2, 3)
Metals with more than one name(Roman numeral)
possible charge (the rest)

polyatomic cations (e.g. name of polyatomic ion

ammonium)
Anion
Names

• The following table summarizes anion names.

monatomic anion (root of nonmetal name)ide

polyatomic anion name of polyatomic ion
Converting Ionic
Formulas to Names

• What’s the name of MgO?

– Magnesium is in Group 2, so it is always +2.
– The name for Mg2+ is magnesium.
– The anion is O2-, which is a monatomic anion.
– Monatomic anions are named by combining the
root of the name of the nonmetal and –ide.
– The anion name is oxide.
– The names of ionic compounds combine the
name of the cation and the name of the anion.
– MgO is magnesium oxide.
Converting Ionic
Formulas to Names

• What’s the name of CoCl2?

– Co represents cobalt, and cobalt is not on the list
of elements that have only one charge, so we
need a Roman numeral indicating its charge in
the cobalt ion name.
– We can determine the cobalt ion charge from
recognizing that the chloride is -1, two of them
would be -2, so the cobalt ion must be +2.
– The name for Co2+ is cobalt(II).
– The anion is Cl-, so its name is chloride.
– The name of CoCl2 is cobalt(II) chloride.
Converting Ionic
Formulas to Names

• What’s the name of NH4NO3?

– Although this formula contains symbols for all
nonmetallic elements, we recognize that this
formula represents an ionic compound because
we see NH4 in the formula.
– You need to memorize formulas and names of
polyatomic ions.
– NH4+ is named ammonium.
– NO3- is nitrate.
– The name of NH4NO3 is ammonium nitrate.
Identifying Names as
Ionic Compounds

• The following general names tell you that

the name represents an ionic compound.
– (name of metal) (root of nonmetal)ide
• e.g. calcium oxide
– (name of metal)(Roman #) (root of nonmetal)ide
• e.g. iron(II) oxide
– ammonium (root of nonmetal)ide
• e.g. ammonium oxide
– ammonium (name of polyatomic anion)
• e.g. ammonium sulfate
Writing Ionic
Formulas

• Two steps for writing formulas for

ionic compounds.
– Determine the formula, including charge,
for the cation and anion.
– Determine the ratio of the ions that
yields zero overall charge.
Formulas and
Charges of Ions

• We can predict the formulas including

charge for some of the ions by
– memorizing names and symbols for some of the
elements,
– using the periodic table to predict the charges for
some elements,
– and memorizing formulas and charges for other ions.
• You can find a web-based tool that will allow
you to practice converting between names
and symbols at
https://preparatorychemistry.com/element_names_symbols_Canvas.html
Monatomic
Ions
Polyatomic
Ions

Ion Name Ion Name

NH4+ ammonium NO3− nitrate

OH− hydroxide SO42− sulfate

CO32− carbonate C2H3O2− acetate

PO43− phosphate
Polyatomic Ions
with Hydrogen

• HCO3− hydrogen carbonate

• HSO4− hydrogen sulfate
• HS− hydrogen sulfide
• HPO42− hydrogen phosphate
• H2PO4− dihydrogen phosphate
 Ionic Formulas
Ionic General Example ions Example
charges formula formula
X+ and Y- XY Na+ and Cl- NaCl
X+ and Y2- X2Y NH4+ and SO42- (NH4)2SO4
X+ and Y3- X3Y Li+ and PO43- Li3PO4
X2+ and Y- XY2 Mg2+ and NO3- Mg(NO3) 2
X2+ and Y2- XY Ca2+ and CO32- CaCO3
X2+ and Y3- X3Y2 Ba2+ and N3- Ba3N2
X3+ and Y- XY3 Al3+ and F- AlF3
X3+ and Y2- X2Y3 Sc3+ and S2- Sc2S3
X3+ and Y3- XY Fe3+ and PO43- FePO4
Converting Ionic
Names to Formulas

• What’s the formula for aluminum chloride?

– This name has the following form, so it is ionic.
(name of metal) (root of nonmetal)ide
– The symbol for aluminum is Al. Aluminum atoms
have 3 more electrons than neon, so we expect
it to lose 3 electron and form Al3+ ions.
– The symbol for chlorine is Cl, which is found in
group 17, so chloride is Cl-.
– The formula for aluminum chloride is AlCl3.
Converting Ionic
Formulas to Names

• What’s the formula for chromium(III) oxide?

– This name has the following form, so it is ionic.
(name of metal)(Roman #) (root of nonmetal)ide
– The symbol for chromium is Cr. The (III) in the
name tells us that the cation formula, including
charge, is Cr3+.
– The symbol for oxygen is O, which is found in
group 16, so oxide is O2-.
– The formula for chromium(III) oxide is Cr2O3.
Converting Ionic
Formulas to Names

• What’s the formula for calcium nitrate?

– There are two ways to recognize this name as
representing an ionic compound.
– The –ate on the end of the name tells us that the
compound contains a polyatomic ion.
– The symbol for the element calcium is Ca, which is
a metallic element, and metals in the combined
form yield ionic compounds.
– The symbol Ca is in group 2 on the periodic
table, so the charge on calcium ions is +2 – Ca2+.
– The formula for nitrate is NO3-.
– The formula for calcium nitrate is Ca(NO3)2.
Converting Ionic
Formulas to Names

• What’s the formula for ammonium sulfide?

– This name has the following form, so it is ionic.
Ammonium (root of nonmetal)ide
– The formula for ammonium is NH4+.
– The –ide on the end of the name sulfide, tells us
that it is a monatomic anion.
– The symbol for sulfur is S, which is found in
group 16, so sulfide is S2-.
– The formula for ammonium sulfide is (NH4)2S.
– Note that the formula for the polyatomic ion is in
parentheses.
Converting Ionic
Formulas to Names

• There are three tools on the textbook’s

website that will allow you to practice this
task.
– Conversion between cation names and formulas.
https://preparatorychemistry.com/cation_names_formulas_Canvas.html
– Conversion between anion names and formulas.
https://preparatorychemistry.com/anion_names_formulas_Canvas.html
– Conversion between ionic compound names and
formulas.
https://preparatorychemistry.com/ionic_nomenclature_Canvas.html