In preparation for future studies in chemistry, it is really important to be able to name and write the formula for chemical compounds quickly. Being quick at this step is a lot like how being able to quickly multiply can help make a great deal of math problems easier.
Being quick at this step is a lot like how being able to quickly multiply can help make a great deal of math problems easier. Binary molecular compounds are those that are made of two non-metals. They are quickly identifiable because you will notice that they use prefixes which are not included in binary ionic compounds.
Prefixes for Binary Molecular Compounds
Number
Prefix
Number
Prefix
one
mono
six
hexa
two
di
seven
hepta
three
tri
eight
octa
four
tetra
nine
nona
five
penta
ten
deca
Try writing the names of the following binary molecular compounds.
Once you can do those, try writing the formula for the given names. These are still all binary molecular compounds. After you’ve done enough of them, you’ll start to get used to seeing non-metals at the beginning of the compounds and then when you begin binary ionic, you’ll recognize something as being different. Be mindful that molecular compounds don’t need a mono if they are beginning with only one of an element, so you won’t see it start with a prefix, but it will still be in there before the second element.
The next set of practice is binary ionic compounds. Naming binary ionic compounds is probably the easiest because it’s just like naming binary molecular compounds except you don’t need to worry about prefixes. Otherwise it is literally the same. Don’t worry, you’ll pay for how easy this is with what’s coming next. ^_^
Writing the formula for binary ionic compounds is more challenging than molecular because now you don’t have the prefixes in the name to tell you what the numbers are. You are going to have to look up the charges on the periodic table and then balance out the charges so that they cancel and the entire molecule becomes neutral. Then you need to reduce the numbers to their lowest possible ratio. Right about now, everything you learned about common ratios and reducing fractions in younger grades will sure be helpful.
If you are looking for some offline practice, there are printable sheets available. If you are looking for something more challenging, try out the next section which introduces transition metals and polyatomic ions.