What is the correct name for the covalent compound, N2O5? Group of answer choices dinitrogen pentaoxide nitrogen oxide dinitrogen oxide nitrogen tetraoxide
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct name for the covalent compound N2O5 is dinitrogen pentoxide.
Explanation:
When naming covalent compounds, we use the prefix system to indicate the number of atoms of each element in the compound. The names follow these guidelines:
- Prefix for number of atoms: We use Greek prefixes to denote the number of atoms of each element. These prefixes are:
- 1 = mono-
- 2 = di-
- 3 = tri-
- 4 = tetra-
- 5 = penta-
- 6 = hexa-
- 7 = hepta-
- 8 = octa-
- 9 = nona-
- 10 = deca-
- Elemental naming convention:
- The name of the first element is written first, using the prefix (unless there is only one atom of that element, in which case the prefix “mono-” is often omitted).
- The second element is named as if it were an anion, typically by using its root and the suffix “-ide.”
For N2O5, here’s how we break it down:
- There are 2 nitrogen (N) atoms, so we use the prefix “di-“ for nitrogen.
- There are 5 oxygen (O) atoms, so we use the prefix “penta-“ for oxygen.
- The second element (oxygen) is named as oxide, following the convention for naming anions.
Thus, N2O5 is named dinitrogen pentoxide, indicating that the compound consists of two nitrogen atoms and five oxygen atoms.
Other Options:
- Nitrogen oxide is a generic term that could apply to various nitrogen-oxygen compounds, including N2O.
- Dinitrogen oxide typically refers to a different compound, N2O, which is known as nitrous oxide (often called laughing gas).
- Nitrogen alone doesn’t accurately describe the composition of the compound.
