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Naming Covalent Compounds Mark as Favorite (86 Favorites)

LESSON PLAN in Naming Compounds, Covalent Bonding. Last updated August 02, 2024.

Summary

In this lesson, students engage their literacy skills to interpret tables and answer a series of guiding questions to discover the rules of naming and formula writing for simple covalent compounds.

Grade Level

High school

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to

Write a chemical formula for a covalent compound
Name a covalent compound using the appropriate rules of nomenclature

Chemistry Topics

Covalent nomenclature and formula writing

Time

Teacher Preparation: minimal

Lesson: 40 minutes (including whole class debrief)

Materials

One student handout per student

Safety

No specific safety precautions need to be observed for this activity.

Teacher Notes

I have found it helpful to introduce the activity, have students work in pairs and then debrief as a class and/or have students complete an exit slip at the end of the class time.
Walking around to monitor student progress and check for understanding is very important in ensuring students that are fully comprehending that material being presented.
For higher levels you could include more names and formulas for lower levels you could break the tables into smaller chucks so students can focus on the inquiry.

For the Student

Lesson

Objective

I am learning how to name a molecular compound and write a chemical formula.

*Table 1*
Name of compound	Chemical formula
Carbon tetrachloride	CCl₄
Dihydrogen monoxide	H₂O
Carbon dioxide	CO₂
Nitrogen trihydride	NH₃
Oxygen dichloride	OCl₂
Dinitrogen tetrabromide	N₂Br₄
Silicon dioxide	SiO₂
Phosphorous tribromide	PBr₃

In Table 1 above, several covalently bonded molecules are listed. The names and chemical formulas have been provided. Use the information in the table to answer the following questions:

What do you notice about the types of elements in the chemical formulas?
What do you notice about the ending of the names for the above compounds?
Other than a prefix, what do you notice about the names of first element in the chemical formulas compared to the periodic table?
Find the compound names that contain “di” as a prefix. What do you notice about their chemical formulas?
Find the compound names that contain “tri” as a prefix. What do you notice about their chemical formulas?
Predict the number of atoms based on the prefix by filing in Table 2.

Table 2
Prefix	Number of atoms
Mono
Di
Tri
Tetra
Penta
Hexa
Hepta
Octa
Nona
Deca

The subscript is the little number that comes after a chemical symbol. Based on the information above and the picture below, what does the subscript indicate?

Using the example below, what is the subscript after the first element in each of the following compounds: CO₂, CCl₄ and SiO₂?

Find one other compound in Table 1 that follows a similar pattern as the compounds listed in question 8.

*Table 3*
Name of compound	Chemical formula
Dihydrogen monoxide	H₂O
Carbon dioxide	CO₂
Oxygen dichloride	OCl₂
Silicon dioxide	SiO₂

Using Table 3, does the first subscript listed in a chemical formula correspond with prefix for the first or second element?
Compare and contrast the name and chemical formula for compounds in Table 3: when is the prefix “mono” included in the name?
Write the names of the following covalent compounds:
1. SO₃ __________________
2. N₂S __________________
3. P₂Br₄_________________
4. CO __________________
5. SF₆ __________________
6. NO₂ __________________
Write the formulas of the following covalent compounds:
1. nitrogen trichloride _______________________
2. boron monocarbide _______________________
3. dinitrogen trioxide ________________________
4. phosphorus pentafluoride __________________
5. diboron tetrahydride ______________________
6. oxygen difluoride _________________________
Summarize the rules for naming covalent compounds.
Summarize the rules for writing formulas for covalent compounds.

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