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4: Covalent Bonding and Simple Molecular Compounds
CHEM 100: General Chemistry (O'Connor)
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4.3: Covalent Compounds - Formulas and Names
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Contents
 1. Home
 2. Campus Bookshelves
 3. Mount Aloysius College
 4. CHEM 100: General Chemistry (O'Connor)
 5. 4: Covalent Bonding and Simple Molecular Compounds
 6. 4.3: Covalent Compounds - Formulas and Names

Expand/collapse global location
CHEM 100: General Chemistry (O'Connor)
 * Front Matter
 * 1: Chemistry, Matter, and Measurement
 * 2: Elements, Atoms, and the Periodic Table
 * 3: Ionic Bonding and Simple Ionic Compounds
 * 4: Covalent Bonding and Simple Molecular Compounds
   * 4.1: Prelude to Covalent Bonding and Simple Molecular Compounds
   * 4.2: Covalent Bonds
   * 4.3: Covalent Compounds - Formulas and Names
   * 4.4: Drawing Lewis Structures
   * 4.5: Characteristics of Covalent Bonds
   * 4.6: Characteristics of Molecules
   * 4.7: Organic Chemistry
   * 4.E: Covalent Bonding and Simple Molecular Compounds (Exercises)
   * 4.S: Covalent Bonding and Simple Molecular Compounds (Summary)
 * 5: Introduction to Chemical Reactions
 * 6: Quantities in Chemical Reactions
 * 7: Energy and Chemical Processes
 * 8: Solids, Liquids, and Gases
 * 9: Solutions
 * 10: Chemical Equilibrium
 * 11: Acids and Bases
 * 12: Nuclear Chemistry
 * 13: Organic Chemistry - Alkanes and Halogenated Hydrocarbons
 * 14: Organic Compounds of Oxygen
 * 15: Organic Acids and Bases and Some of Their Derivatives
 * 16: Carbohydrates
 * 17: Lipids
 * 18: Amino Acids, Proteins, and Enzymes
 * 19: Nucleic Acids
 * Back Matter


4.3: COVALENT COMPOUNDS - FORMULAS AND NAMES

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Table of contents
 1.  Learning Objectives
 2. COVALENT AND IONIC COMPOUNDS
 3. Characteristics of Covalent (Molecular) Compounds
    1. 1. Example 4.3.14.3.1
       2. Exercise 4.3.14.3.1
    2. MOLECULAR FORMULAS
    3. NAMING COVALENT COMPOUNDS
       1. Example 4.3.24.3.2
          1. Solution
       2. Exercise 4.3.24.3.2
       3. Example 4.3.34.3.3
          1. Solution
       4. Exercise 4.3.34.3.3
 4. Key Takeaways

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 * Identify covalent and ionic compounds.
 * Determine the chemical formula of a simple covalent compound from its name.
 * Determine the name of a simple covalent compound from its chemical formula.

COVALENT AND IONIC COMPOUNDS

What elements make covalent bonds? Covalent bonds form when two or more
nonmetals combine. For example, both hydrogen and oxygen are nonmetals, and when
they combine to make water, they do so by forming covalent bonds. Compounds that
are composed of only non-metals or semi-metals with non-metals will display
covalent bonding and will be classified as molecular compounds.

As a general rule of thumb, compounds that involve a metal binding with either a
non-metal or a semi-metal will display ionic bonding. Thus, the compound formed
from sodium and chlorine will be ionic (a metal and a non-metal). Nitrogen
monoxide (NO) will be a covalently bound molecule (two non-metals), silicon
dioxide (SiO2) will be a covalently bound molecule (a semi-metal and a
non-metal) and MgCl2 will be ionic (a metal and a non-metal).

A polyatomic ion is an ion composed of two or more atoms that have a charge as a
group (poly = many). The ammonium ion (see figure below) consists of one
nitrogen atom and four hydrogen atoms. Together, they comprise a single ion with
a 1+ charge and a formula of NH4+. The carbonate ion (see figure below) consists
of one carbon atom and three oxygen atoms and carries an overall charge of 2−.
The formula of the carbonate ion is CO32−.



The atoms of a polyatomic ion are tightly bonded together and so the entire ion
behaves as a single unit. Several examples are found in Table 3.3.1. Nonmetal
atoms in polyatomic ions are joined by covalent bonds, but the ion as a whole
participates in ionic bonding. For example, ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) has ionic
bonding between a polyatomic ion, NH+4NH4+, and Cl−Cl− ions, but within the
ammonium ion (NH4+), the nitrogen and hydrogen atoms are connected by covalent
bonds (shown above).

Both ionic and covalent bonding are also found in calcium carbonate. Calcium
carbonate (CaCO3) has ionic bonding between calcium ion Ca2+Ca2+ and a
polyatomic ion, CO2−3CO32−, but within the carbonate ion (CO32-), the carbon and
oxygen atoms are connected by covalent bonds (shown above).


CHARACTERISTICS OF COVALENT (MOLECULAR) COMPOUNDS

Compounds that contain covalent bonds (also called molecular compounds) exhibit
different physical properties than ionic compounds. Because the attraction
between molecules, which are electrically neutral, is weaker than that between
electrically charged ions, covalent compounds generally have much lower melting
and boiling points than ionic compounds (discussed in Section 3.6). For example,
water (molecular compound) boils at 100 °C while sodium chloride (ionic
compound) boils at 1413 °C. In fact, many covalent compounds are liquids or
gases at room temperature, and, in their solid states, they are typically much
softer than ionic solids. Furthermore, whereas ionic compounds are good
conductors of electricity when dissolved in water, most covalent compounds,
being electrically neutral, are poor conductors of electricity in any state. The
attraction between molecules (called intermolecular forces) will be discussed in
more detail in Section 8.1

EXAMPLE 4.3.14.3.1

Is each compound formed from ionic bonds, covalent bonds, or both?

 1. Na2ONa2O
 2. Na3PO4Na3PO4
 3. N2O4N2O4

Answer a

The elements in Na2ONa2O are a metal and a nonmetal, which form ionic bonds.

Answer b

Because sodium is a metal and we recognize the formula for the phosphate ion, we
know that this compound is ionic. However, within the polyatomic phosphate ion,
the atoms are held together by covalent bonds, so this compound contains both
ionic and covalent bonds.

Answer c

The elements in N2O4|N2O4| are both nonmetals, rather than a metal and a
nonmetal. Therefore, the atoms form covalent bonds.

EXERCISE 4.3.14.3.1

Is each compound are formed from ionic bonds, covalent bonds, or both?

 1. Ba(OH)2Ba(OH)2
 2. F2F2
 3. PCl3PCl3

Answer a:

both

Answer b:

covalent

Answer c:

covalent

MOLECULAR FORMULAS

The chemical formulas for covalent compounds are referred to as molecular
formulas because these compounds exist as separate, discrete molecules.
Typically, a molecular formula begins with the nonmetal that is closest to the
lower left corner of the periodic table, except that hydrogen is almost never
written first (H2O is the prominent exception). Then the other nonmetal symbols
are listed. Numerical subscripts are used if there is more than one of a
particular atom. For example, we have already seen CH4, the molecular formula
for methane. Below is the molecular formula of ammonia, NH3.

NH3. An arrow points to the N and says, "The lack of a subscript on the N symbol
indicates that there is 1 atom of nitrogen in a molecule of ammonia". An arrow
points to H and says, "The subscript below the H symbol indicates that there are
3 hydrogen atoms in a molecule of ammonia".

NAMING COVALENT COMPOUNDS

Naming binary (two-element) covalent compounds is similar to naming simple ionic
compounds. The first element in the formula is simply listed using the name of
the element. The second element is named by taking the stem of the element name
and adding the suffix -ide. A system of numerical prefixes is used to specify
the number of atoms in a molecule. Table 4.3.14.3.1 lists these numerical
prefixes. Normally, no prefix is added to the first element’s name if there is
only one atom of the first element in a molecule. If the second element is
oxygen, the trailing vowel is usually omitted from the end of a polysyllabic
prefix but not a monosyllabic one (that is, we would say “monoxide” rather than
“monooxide” and “trioxide” rather than “troxide”).

Table 4.3.14.3.1: Numerical Prefixes for Naming Binary Covalent Compounds Number
of Atoms in Compound Prefix on the Name of the Element 1 mono-* 2 di- 3 tri- 4
tetra- 5 penta- 6 hexa- 7 hepta- 8 octa- 9 nona- 10 deca- *This prefix is not
used for the first element’s name.

Let us practice by naming the compound whose molecular formula is CCl4. The name
begins with the name of the first element—carbon. The second element, chlorine,
becomes chloride, and we attach the correct numerical prefix (“tetra-”) to
indicate that the molecule contains four chlorine atoms. Putting these pieces
together gives the name carbon tetrachloride for this compound.

EXAMPLE 4.3.24.3.2

Write the molecular formula for each compound.

 1. chlorine trifluoride
 2. phosphorus pentachloride
 3. sulfur dioxide
 4. dinitrogen pentoxide

SOLUTION

If there is no numerical prefix on the first element’s name, we can assume that
there is only one atom of that element in a molecule.

 1. ClF3
 2. PCl5
 3. SO2
 4. N2O5 (The di- prefix on nitrogen indicates that two nitrogen atoms are
    present.)

EXERCISE 4.3.24.3.2

Write the molecular formula for each compound.

 1. nitrogen dioxide
 2. dioxygen difluoride
 3. sulfur hexafluoride
 4. selenium monoxide

Answer a:

a. NO2

Answer b:

O2F2

Answer c:

SF6

Answer d:

SeO

Because it is so unreactive, sulfur hexafluoride is used as a spark suppressant
in electrical devices such as transformers.

EXAMPLE 4.3.34.3.3

Write the name for each compound.

 1. BrF5
 2. S2F2
 3. CO

SOLUTION

 1. bromine pentafluoride
 2. disulfur difluoride
 3. carbon monoxide

EXERCISE 4.3.34.3.3

Write the name for each compound.

 1. CF4
 2. SeCl2
 3. SO3

Answer a:

carbon tetrafluoride

Answer b:

selenium dichloride

Answer c:

sulfur trioxide

For some simple covalent compounds, we use common names rather than systematic
names. We have already encountered these compounds, but we list them here
explicitly:

 * H2O: water
 * NH3: ammonia
 * CH4: methane

Methane is the simplest organic compound. Organic compounds are compounds with
carbon atoms and are named by a separate nomenclature system that we will
introduce in in a separate section.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

 * The chemical formula of a simple covalent compound can be determined from its
   name.
 * The name of a simple covalent compound can be determined from its chemical
   formula.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.3: Covalent Compounds - Formulas and Names is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA
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 * 4.2: Covalent Compounds - Formulas and Names by Anonymous is licensed CC
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