Question

Given the chemical formulas of the following compounds, name each compound and state the rules you used to determine each name. • RbF • CuO • (NH4)2C2O4 (Note: C2O4– is called oxalate.)

Answer 1

When naming an ionic compound, write the name of the cation, which is the metal first. Then, write the name of the anion, which is the nonmetal. However, you remove the last 2-3 letters and replace suffixes. 

1. RbF --> Rubidium Fluoride
Change fluorine to fluoride
2. CuO --> Copper (II) Oxide
Change oxygen to oxide. Oxide has a charge of -2. Since no subscripts are written, it means they have the same opposite charge. So, we use Copper (II).
3. (NH₄)₂C₂O₄  ---> Ammonium Oxalate
NH₄ is ammonia, but we change it to ammonium for polyatomic ions.