Name the Following Binary Ionic Compounds: a. AgCl b. ZnO c. CaBr2 d. SrF2
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To name binary ionic compounds, we follow a systematic approach:
- AgCl: This compound consists of silver (Ag) and chlorine (Cl). Silver (Ag) is a transition metal that typically has a fixed charge of +1, and chlorine (Cl) is a halogen that forms a chloride ion with a charge of -1. Therefore, the name of this compound is silver chloride.
- ZnO: Zinc (Zn) is a transition metal with a fixed charge of +2, and oxygen (O) is a non-metal that typically forms an oxide ion with a charge of -2. Hence, the name of this compound is zinc oxide.
- CaBr2: This compound consists of calcium (Ca) and bromine (Br). Calcium (Ca) is an alkaline earth metal with a fixed charge of +2, and bromine (Br) is a halogen that forms a bromide ion with a charge of -1. Since the ratio of calcium to bromine is 1:2, the name of this compound is calcium bromide.
- SrF2: In this case, strontium (Sr) is an alkaline earth metal with a fixed charge of +2, and fluorine (F) is a halogen that forms a fluoride ion with a charge of -1. The ratio of strontium to fluorine is also 1:2, so the name of this compound is strontium fluoride.
Explanation:
- Ionic bonds are formed between metals (which give up electrons to become positively charged) and non-metals (which accept electrons to become negatively charged).
- The metal is always named first, and its charge is indicated based on its position in the periodic table (for transition metals, Roman numerals are used to indicate variable charges, but in these examples, the metals have fixed charges).
- The non-metal is named second with its suffix changed to “-ide” (chlorine becomes chloride, oxygen becomes oxide, bromine becomes bromide, and fluorine becomes fluoride).
Thus, each compound is named according to these conventions.
