Rules for Inorganic Nomenclature

Inorganic Nomenclature
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Nomenclature Rules
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Ionic Compounds
1. Name the positive ion.
2. Use a Roman numeral in parentheses, indicating the charge on the metal ion; do not use the Roman numeral if the metal is in IA, IIA, or IIIA, or the metal is Ag (always 1+), Cd, or Zn (both of those are always 2+).
3. Name the negative ion, changing the ending to "—ide" if it is a monatomic non-metal.

Molecular Compounds
1. Name the first element, indicating how often it occurs with a prefix, but do not use the prefix "mono—" when the first element occurs once.
2. Name the second element, indicating how often it occurs (with a prefix), and changing the ending to "—ide."
3. The more electronegative element is listed second.

Prefixes
Number
Prefix
1
mono
2
di
3
tri
4
tetra
5
penta
6
hexa
7
hepta
8
octa
9
nona
10
deca