http://www.ck12.org Chapter 7. Chemical Nomenclature
TABLE7.9: Naming System for Acids
Anion Suffix Example Name of acid Example
-ide chloride (Cl−) hydro_____ic acid hydrochloric acid (HCl)
-ate sulfate (SO 42 −) _____ic acid sulfuric acid H 2 SO 4 )
-ite nitrite (NO 2 −) _____ous acid nitrous acid (HNO 2 )Writing Formulas for Acids
Like other compounds that we have studied, acids are electrically neutral. Therefore, the charge of the anion part of
the formula must be exactly balanced out by the H+ ions. Since H+ions carry a single positive charge, the number
of H+ions in the formula is equal to the magnitude of the negative charge on the anion. Two examples from the
table above (Table7.9) illustrate this point. The chloride ion carries a 1−charge, so only one H is needed in the
formula of the acid (HCl). The sulfate ion carries a 2−charge, so two hydrogen atoms are needed in the formula
of the acid (H 2 SO 4 ). Another way to think about writing the correct formula is to utilize the crisscross method, as
shown below for sulfuric acid.
Bases
The simplest way to define abaseis an ionic compound that produces hydroxide ions when dissolved in water. One
of the most commonly used bases is sodium hydroxide (Figure7.8).
FIGURE 7.8
(A) Sodium hydroxide, a base, is a solid
that is typically produced as small white
pellets. (B) The structure of sodium hy-
droxide is an extended three-dimensional
network. The purple spheres are the
sodium ions (Na+). The red and white
spheres are oxygen and hydrogen atoms,
respectively, which are bonded together
to form hydroxide ions (OH−).