AP CHEMISTRY (10 PTS)
WPS8: NOMENCLATURE OF ACIDS
NAME: ______________________________________
Name the following acids.
1) HIO3
2) H3PO3
3) HNO3
4) HF
5) H2C8H4O4
6) HAt
Write the formula for the following acids.
7) tartaric acid
8) hydrotelluric acid
9) carbonic acid
10) hypochlorous acid
11) cyanic acid
12) citric acid
NOMENCLATURE OF ACIDS
There are two classes of acids: binary and oxyacids. Binary acids are simply aqueous binary hydrides (H plus some
anion) that does NOT include oxygen. Oxyacids are aqueous compounds in which H is bonded to a polyatomic ion
containing oxygen.
To name a binary acid, you use the prefix “hydro” and the suffic “ic” added to the stem of the anion. This is followed
with the word “acid”. For example, HCl(aq) is hydro+chlor+ic acid (hydrochloric acid). When writing the formula, the
number of hydrogens will equal the number of negative charges held by the anion. Example: hydroselenic acid will be
H2Se since the selenium ion is a 2− charge. It should be pointed out that sulfur and phosphorus don’t use their common
stem: sulfur uses “sulfur” and phosphorus uses “phosphor”.
To name an oxyacid, you simply take the name of the polyatomic anion and change the ending: “ate” becomes “ic”
and “ite” becomes “ous” followed by the word acid. Example: HClO3 has the chlorate ion and therefore would be
called “chloric acid”. HClO2 has the chlorite ion and therefore would be called “chlorous acid”. The prefix “hydro” is
NOT used with this class of acids. Again, when writing the formula, the number of hydrogens will equal the number of
negative charges held by the anion. Example: chromic acid will be H 2CrO4 since chromate has a 2− charge.