Writing Ionic and Covalent Formulas

Writing Ionic and Covalent Formulas. Mr. Causey shows how easy it is to write ionic compound and covalent compound formulas. All you need is a periodic table, a list of polyatomic ions, and some simple rules and you're ready to start writing formulas.

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Polyatomic Ion Cheat Sheet:

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RELATED VIDEOS:
Writing Ionic Formulas:

Writing Covalent Formulas:

Naming Compounds:

Naming Ionic Compounds:

Naming Covalent Compounds:

In this lesson, we'll go through the formula anatomy, binary compounds, writing formulas, and ionic and covalent formulas. You will need a periodic table unless you have it memorized. You will need a list of the major polyatomic ions.

And if you get my list, you'll have a list of the metal cations and the numeric prefixes as well. You need to know oxidation numbers, polyatomic ions, the periodic table, covalent and ionic bonds, and the chemical names. It is very important to know these things. Especially, be familiar with the covalent and ionic bonds. So, a chemical formula, what is it? It's a symbolic representation of a chemical compound. For instance, potassium permanganate, its symbolic representation would be KMnO4.

Let's take a look at formula anatomy. You need to make sure you understand how formulas are put together. Here's the formula for "calcium fluoride". The "Ca" and the "F", or the calcium and the fluorine, that's the elements. The small numbers below and to the right are called subscripts. Subscripts tell you how many atoms or ions are needed in that substance. There must be two fluorine ions in calcium fluoride. So, we put a two for the subscript. Since there is only one calcium ion, we don't write the one, similar to algebra.

The number out in front is the coefficient and tells you how many formula units, molecules, or moles are being used. Remember, most compounds are binary, meaning they have two parts. KCl or H2O. Notice that KCl is potassium and chlorine and H2O is hydrogen and oxygen.

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[haydenza]

i just wanna say thank you its my first year in highschool and i have been missing a lot of school because i was sick these videos are a life changer thanks

[kittylover]

thank you so much! I have a test tomorrow and this was much simpler and easier to follow than my chemistry teacher is!

[larsley]

I am a student at College of Micronesia.. i want to say that this is very helpful and i recommend all the students who are struggling in Chemistry, especially my colleagues to watch Mr. Causey's video.. they're all Awesome and Helpful.

[aaaaammmmmyyyyyy]

omg MIND BLOWN! i never understood until now!! thankyou mr. causey !!!!

[waldensun]

OMG Mr. Causey you are the best you make me understand everything in 10 minutes better than in 1 hour of classtime!! Thanks so much dude!

[brandymiles]

I know this is old but I have a science exam tomorrow and this helped me so much, Thank you!

[PreciousIam]

never understood chemistry until I started doing these videos....awesome

[dolam]

Very helpful! Thank you very much. You are a lot easier to understand than my Chemistry Professor.

[TonyStark-tewy]

Hi again is there any place where I could just get a list of all the chemistry vocab and there defenitions it would help so much.. thank you

[mrcausey]

Many people need all the explanation because they have gaps. After 30 years of teaching I have learned to review everything. A lot times students don't have the whole picture.

[TonyStark-tewy]

Hello Mr.causey I am skipping a year 9f chemistry and going into Ap chem and just basically need a complete run down over the basic chemistry and begginer chemistry that explains everything. Could you please send me of all the videos you think I should start watching from basic to advanced. Thank you

[cjdude]

Thanks, you are very good at explaining this concept. Now I understand.

[anli_ace]

This video was actually so hilarious, and I'm a little more confident now, which is saying something, coming from a student. Thank you for making these videos; I should probably watch more!

[alaroya]

Now I know how to remember LEAD...PEANUT BUTTER...my favourite! thanks for the awesome lesson. Any chance you do one on one tutoring online?

[flashkitty]

this video is very useful for the students who are confused in writing molecular formula

[NLD]

Great video, first I was confuse on how it works

[Adam]

Its to do with the number of electrons in the respective elements outer shell.
Phosphorus is in group 5 and therefore wants 3 more electrons to fill its outer shell. Oxygen is in group 6 and therefore wants 2 electrons per oxygen atom. A covalent bond is the sharing of electrons. We are trying to find a subscript value with means they both have full shells. Phosphorus trioxide isn't really phosphorus trioxide it is tetraphosphorus hexoxide . (tetra =4) (hex = 6).

[jamiel]

Im taking Intro to Bio Chem for prereq into a college nursing program. I decided to get this class out of the way and take it this summer, online which was seeming like a big mistake. Not only is it online, but my teachers English and explanations are awful. Thanks so much for the video, I understand it quite a bit more than our book!

[beshoywassef]

You make chemistry really easy thank you very much god bless you but I still have trouble naming the ion it's a little confusing I don't know which one is covalent and which is not I hope you make another video explains this thanks keep up the good work

[mrcausey]

First never use parentheses with an element, only with polyatomic ions. Ca has a +2 charge and Cl has a -1 charge but the charges must balance thus you need another Cl to get -2. +2 + -2 = 0, balanced. CaCl2