1. Naming Covalent/Molecular Compounds

2. Naming Covalent Compounds
Covalent compounds have a different naming system since there are no ions involved to balance the charges.
Remember: Covalent bonds are formed between non-metals.
Therefore, covalent compounds are only made up of non-metals.
Covalent compounds are formed when electrons are shared.

3. There can be many different compounds made up from the same two elements.
E.g. CO2 (carbon dioxide)
O C O
Or CO (carbon monoxide)
C O

4. Covalent Compounds are Named Using Prefixes
1 - mono hepta
2 - di octa
3 - tri nona
4 - tetra deca
5 - penta
6 - hexa

5. Simply use the correct prefix to tell how many of each atom are in the compound. You may leave out the prefix mono only if it appears in front of the entire name. Don’t forget to change the ending to “ide”.
1) PCl3
Phosphorus trichloride

6. 2) N2O4 3) H20 4) CF4 5) SiO4 Dinitrogen tetraoxide
Dihydrogen monoxide
4) CF4
Carbon tetrafluoride
5) SiO4
Silicon tetroxide

7. 2) nitrogen trichloride 3) Carbon monoxide 4) tetrabromine nonoxide
Use the prefixes to tell you how many of each atom. Then place this number as the subscript.
1) disulfur oxide
S2O
2) nitrogen trichloride
NCl3
3) Carbon monoxide CO
4) tetrabromine nonoxide
Br4O9
5) arsenic trihydride
AsH3