Essential Information
Metal + Non-Metal = Ionic Compound
for example, CaCl
2, KBr, or Al
3N
2
Keys to Naming Binary Ionic Compounds:
Name the metal (the cation) as it appears on the Periodic Table.
Na
+ = Sodium
2+ = Magnesium Al
3+ = Aluminum
For the non-metal (the anion) write the name on the Periodic Table and then replace the ending with
ide.
CaCl
2 = Calcium chlorine = Calcium chlor
ide
AlN = Aluminum nitrogen = Aluminum nitr
ide
Na
2O = Sodium oxygen = Sodium ox
ide