Introduction

Naming is fundamental to success in chemistry, regardless of the level of chemistry! You will use this skill often.  It is also a handy skill for a greater understanding of the chemistry world around you, from the ingredients in your kitchen (e.g. sodium bicarbonate), to cleaners in your bathroom (e.g. ammonium hydroxide), to the medicines in your medicine cabinet (e.g. magnesium hydroxide) and the preservatives in your food (e.g. sodium nitrate).

You should NOT attempt to memorize every possible name. Instead, focus on the rules and how to apply them.  There is a major difference in approach to naming depending on whether the compound contains ions or is non-ionic (completely covalent). To illustrate the basic difference, we will consider mainly simple compounds with only two elements, or just two types of ions.