FirstyearAcidNaming

Naming Acids

Here is the table you need to memorize for naming acids (and determining chemical formula for acids):

Given chemical formula of acid, determining chemical name

1. Determine the "anion" of the acid and its name. Determine the suffix of the anion.
(Remember, there really is no anion in an acid since it is a molecular cpd not ionic cpd)

2. Look at the table above for the appropriate line that has the correct suffix of the anion(from column 1).

3. Use any prefix or suffix that needs to be added to anion name as stated in the appropriate line on the above table. All names should have the word acid after it (as a completely separate word).


Example: HNO₃
1. Anions is NO₃^1-, called nitrate, that has a suffix of -ate.
2. -ate is the third line (column 1). 3. On third line, you need to drop the -ate and add -ic to the root of the anion or nitric acid.

Given chemical name, determine chemical formula of acid

1. Determine the suffix and/or prefix of the acid name.

2. Look on the above table in column 3 (column 2 is blank) for the appropriate line that has the correct prefix/suffix or suffix. Look at column 1 on this line for the suffix name of the anion of the acid.

3. Using the stem of the acid name and the suffix determine the anion name and its formula and charge.

4. Add a H in front of the anion formula and determine the subscript for the H. You determine the subscript knowing that number of H⁺ must balance the negative charge of the anion. Finally, add the anion formula to get the chemical formula of the acid.


Example: Sulfurous acid
1. The suffix for this name is -ous. 2. In column 3, the -ous is the -ite suffix.
3. The stem of the anion is sulfur and the -ite to give sulfite or SO₃^2-
4. Since sulfite has a 2- charge, you need 2 H⁺ to balance the negative charge to give the correct chemical formula, H₂SO₃