Naming and Understanding Ionic and Covalent Compounds

Naming and understanding compounds can be confusing and overwhelming - Chemistry students have been through that phase of perplexity! But don't worry, once you get the hang of it, it's almost natural (most of the time...)! In this post, I will be explaining as plainly as possible the naming of ionic bonds and covalent bonds, as well as giving a bit of background information about these, as well as how they apply to real scientific issues. Hold on and keep your minds open!

1. Ionic Bonds

Ionic bonding is the transfer of a valence electron from one atom to another. One of these atoms is a non-metal (right-side of the periodic table) and a metal (left-side of the periodic table). After the bonding, the metal ends up with a positive charge and the non-metal ends up with a negative charge (because electrons have a negative charge).

Naming ionic bonds can be tricky, but the basics are simple. To illustrate the naming, I will be using the ionic bond between titanium (Ti) and chlorine (Cl).

 1. The metal is named first, then the non-metal [Titanium chlorine]

 2. Next, we add the suffix '-ide' to the end, therefore to the non-metal [Titanium chloride]

 3. Finally, if needed, Roman numerals are added to show the charge of the metal [considering here that Titanium has a charge of three, so it will be Titanium (III) chloride]

Giving the formula is the most difficult part for me, because we have to find the charges (this means either knowing them by heart or having the periodic table at hand). The important thing to know is that the 1st group (column) has a charge of 1, the 2nd group has a charge of 2. Then, there is a large group of metals in the middle of the periodic table, which mostly have a charge of 2, but that can change (these are called transition metals). Finally, the 18th group has a neutral charge (0 - Noble Gases), the 17th has a charge of -1, the 16th of -2, and so on.

We have to cross over the charges - except if they cancel each other out.

Ionic bonds are the key to certain properties in elements and they are the result of strong electrostatic forces. Ionic bonds exist in everyday life; NaCl for example (better known as table salt), or KBr (Potassium bromide).

Ions are extremely important for our health. For instance, dietary minerals (also called mineral nutrients) are in fact elements usually in the form of ions. They serve many functions like building bone and teeth, making hormones, working in the nervous and immune systems...

We need ions like selenium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese to function properly and have a healthy body. Scientists have found out the importance of the presence of certain ions in our bodies by observing and studying the way the body reacts when these ions are absent (e.g.: becoming anaemic through lack of iron) - sometimes deficiencies can cause important health issues worldwide. Figuring out which ions are essential to our health and naming them so that they can be recognised by other people is very important, because it means people can watch their own health and make sure they are getting the proper nutrients.

If you're interested and would like to find out a bit more about ions, let's look at a specific ion called calcium! You've probably heard of this one before, and you might have seen it when looking at the components of something you were eating. Or maybe you've heard that rocks were a source of calcium and you're wondering why on earth it would be in food. Well, calcium is essential for our health. It is necessary for our muscles, heart and digestive systems, but also for building bone and teeth. We get calcium from consuming leafy vegetables, nuts, dairy products and fish, so make sure to include some of those in your diet. We can also get calcium from tap water, but that isn't always healthy, so make sure your tap water is safe before drinking it. Calcium deficiency has been known to create health problems such as hypocalcemia, which can lead to muscle stiffness or spasms, anxiety, depression or fatigue, memorisation problems, even seizures and heart failure. However, the consumption of calcium has a correlation with the risk of heart attacks - which tends to decrease!

Now that you've got the basics - and a little bit more information - about ionic bonds, let's move on to covalent bonds!

2. Covalent Bonds

Covalent bonding is when two non-metals share valence electrons (meaning they are "linked" by two electrons and each atom adds one electron to their outer shell).

I find naming covalent bonds a lot easier than ionic bonds, and you probably will too. For this method, I will use carbon (C) and oxygen (O) as my example.

 1. The element that is furthest away from oxygen is named first. [carbon oxygen]

 2. Next, we add the suffix '-ide' to the end. [carbon oxide]
 3. Finally, we add any prefixes necessary (mono, di, tri, tetra, penta...). Careful! We don't add mono in front of the first element, only in front of the last one. [Carbon monoxide = one carbon and one oxygen]

Giving the chemical formula for covalent bonds is very easy; no crossing charges, no Roman numerals... We just write in small on the bottom right of the element the number of each element it has.

Covalent bonds are very common in our everyday life - in fact, a few of them are crucial to our existence, like H2O (water) and CO2 (carbon dioxide). Covalent bonds are a lot less strong and their boiling and melting points are a lot lower than those of ionic bonds.

Covalent bonding is the most important type of bonding in organic chemistry. What that means is that so many necessary/useful substances (like alcohols, carbohydrates and proteins) come from covalent bonding, which is also used in the making of drugs. This all makes it obvious that covalent bonding, from water to lipids to alcohols, is essential to our health.

Works Cited

Armstrong, Rick. Chemistry 4/5 for the International Student. Edited by Jane Fitzpatrick et al., NELSON CENGAGE Learning.

"Covalent Bond." ScienceDirect, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/covalent-bond. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.

Hayden, Kellie, editor. "List of Ionic Bonds Examples." Bright Hub Education, 1 Apr. 2012, www.brighthubeducation.com/science-homework-help/88778-examples-of-ionic-bonds/. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.

Three types of chemical bonding, funny illustrations. Wirdou, wirdou.com/tag/chemical-bonds/. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.
Stubblefield, Heaven. "Hypocalcemia." Edited by Deborah Weatherspoon. Healthline, 11 July 2016, www.healthline.com/health/hypocalcemia. Accessed 11 Oct. 2018.