How do you determine the most common oxyanion of an element?
I’ve been studying for my chemistry quiz tommorrow and i just cannot figure out how I’m supposed to know the difference between -ites and -ates. I know that the -ate suffix is used for the most common oxyanion of an element, but how do I find out what that is? Do I just have to memorize which oxyanion is the most common for each element?
Also any other tips for remembering nomenclature would be appreciated. The quiz will be on naming anions, cations, ionic compounds, acids, and binary molecular compounds. Thanks!
The -ate ending is not always the most common, just the most oxidized.
There are too many exceptions to the rules to come up with a reliable way to know the names of the oxygenated non-metal anions. I highly suggest using flash cards to drill yourself on the names and chemical structures of the common multi-atomic ions.
This will ensure that you can immediately picture the formula from the name or the name from the written structure.
NH4+ as Ammonium and
[HCO3]- as Bicarbonate or Hydrogen carbonate can often be overlooked otherwise.
There are also sequences like the Phosphates
[H2PO4]-1
[HPO4]-2
[PO4]-3
October 31st, 2009 at 12:49 pm
The -ate ending is not always the most common, just the most oxidized.
There are too many exceptions to the rules to come up with a reliable way to know the names of the oxygenated non-metal anions. I highly suggest using flash cards to drill yourself on the names and chemical structures of the common multi-atomic ions.
This will ensure that you can immediately picture the formula from the name or the name from the written structure.
NH4+ as Ammonium and
[HCO3]- as Bicarbonate or Hydrogen carbonate can often be overlooked otherwise.
There are also sequences like the Phosphates
[H2PO4]-1
[HPO4]-2
[PO4]-3
References :