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Acids and Bases
There is yet another system for naming acids and bases. However, the best approach, for our purposes, is to know the names of a relatively small number of acids and bases and to recognize the features of the name that signal the presence of different numbers of atoms. The details given below are less important than being able to identify and name common acids and bases. Acids often contain hydrogen ions, H+, in combination with
an anion. The simplest acids are named by adding the prefix "hydro"
to the root name of the anion followed by "ic"
and the word, "acid" , as in hydrofluoric
acid for the molecular formula, HF. Notice that the
charges must balance for acids just as they did for ionic compounds. However,
for acids, instead hydrogen ions substitute for the cation and balance the negative charge
on the anion. Hydrogen sulfide is a common acid that does
not follow this naming convention but shows the hydrogen ion
balancing the anion charge of 2-. Its molecular formula is H2S.
If oxygen atoms are present in the acid molecule, the naming system needs
to reflect the number of oxygens. Many nonmetals like
the halogens form anions with varying numbers of oxygen atoms.
The maximum possible number of oxygens is four. However, many non-metals
form only one or two oxyanions. A good example is S, which forms
two oxyanions -- SO4-2, the sulfate ion
and SO3-2 the sulfite ion. The acid
formed from these ions reflects not only the number of oxygens in the anion
but also, the number of potential oxyanions that can be made with that
element.
Most common bases contain the hydroxyl radical, OH- and a
cation:
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