3.6: How to Name Compounds

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Knowing how to name a compound correctly is an important skill both for the remainder of this course, and as you move into other fields. Many compounds have long names which differ only by a single letter. But that single letter makes a big difference in the properties of those compounds. For example, sodium chloride is something that you might use in food preparation, but sodium chlorite might explode if mixed with certain foods! Likewise, in the medical fields there are many drugs with long and sometimes similar names. Being able to distinguish between different chemical names is a safety issue. This is true for you and your classmates in lab activities while you are taking your chemistry courses. But it is also true for patients you might have if you are in a medical career.

The most important step in naming a chemical is determining which category that chemical belongs in. As you read the sections on how to name different types of chemicals, please recognize the importance of these chemical classifications. A previous section in this chapter (3.4) discussed how we categorize compounds. These are the same categories we will be using as we name compounds. Pay attention to these categories as you’re naming chemicals.