Introduction
Nomenclature is simply the process of naming chemical formulas. It is one of the most important things a chemistry student could learn. Stoichiometry is often referred to as the "heart and soul" of chemistry. Stoichiometry is the mathematical process of working with chemical reactions to predict the quantity of the products among other things. In order to be successful in stoichiometry, students must first master nomenclature. One must be able to read and write chemical formulas/names in order to write chemical reactions. Once the reactions are written, one can then worry about balancing the reaction and from there move to performing the necessary calculations based on the coefficients determined in the balanced chemical equation. Stoichiometry starts with nomenclature as often in the lab situations or in the practice problems we start with chemical names.

Purpose
- To learn the "rules" for naming ionic, covalent (molecular), and acid compounds
- To write chemical names from chemical formulas
- To write chemical formulas from chemical names

Task
In this activity you will first read about chemical nomenclature from several sources and practice applying the concepts using several web sites. You will then be asked to address some practice problems at the bottom of this page to submit to your teacher. For some of the activities you may need Shockwave, Java or other software applications installed on your computers.

Assignment
You will be asked to explore several web sites and outline the "rules" for nomenclature for 3 types of compounds. You will then be asked a few questions from your exploration and you will be need to complete the assessment at the end of this activity. Part of the following will need to be printed so that you can submit it to your teacher.

Scoring
Much of the assignment will be scored on completion as long as you are making an honest attempt. The assessment at the end will be scored for accuracy but the main points for this activity will be an in-class quiz to be determined by your teacher. Be honest with your answers as it will in the end only hurt you to be dishonest.

Instructions
This activity will give you be given a choice and a variety of activities to go to and explore the concept of nomenclature. Some will provide you will instruction and notes and some will provide you with a variety of ways to practice including quizzes, games, and puzzles. Print out the questions in the next section so that you can submit them to your teacher for credit. This activity will take anywhere 30 minutes to several hours depending on how much time you spend exploring and "playing" with the different games and activities. Your teacher should provide you with adequate time to complete this (a week) if it is homework or should reserve the computer lab for one or two entire classes. There is a printer friendly version that you can go to if you have the Flash Paper (swf) reader.

Name _____________________________ Period _____ Date ______________

The following is a list of 9 web sites from which you can choose to explore to find the "rules" or steps that are taken for naming ionic, molecular (covalent) and acid compounds. Choose from the list one or several sites and read the information provided to answer questions 1-3.

Explore:

1. Summarize the "rules" or steps needed to name all types of ionic compounds.

a) Binary ionic -

 

 

b) Ionic compounds with transition metals (more than one oxidation state) -

 

 

c) Ionic compounds with polyatomic anions -

 

 

2. Summarize the steps taken to name Binary molecular (covalent) compounds.

3. Summarize how to name acids.

a) Binary acids -

 

 

b) Oxyacids (acids with polyatomic anions) -

 

 

Now that you have read about and summarized how to name chemical compounds, it is time to practice. Practice is the only way to really get good at naming chemical compounds. The following are a series of sites you can go to in order to practice.

Fernbank - You may have already visited this site for the reading. Use the mouse to enlarge the white section at the top of the page. There are 100 multiple choice practice problems here for you to work with.

Quia Hangman - Play the game of Hangman by trying to write chemical names. This site is fun, but will ask for ion names and all kinds of things, not just chemical formula names. This requires Java (click on the link to get instructions and the FREE download).

Quia Memory game - Play the classic game of Concentration to match chemical names to formulas. You can change the settings on this to have a 6x5 board to get the maximum number of formulas. This requires Java.

Funtrivia.com mini-quiz - a 10 question self-assessment that can be done with Flash (Java) or with your browser (HTML).

Mark Bishop's tutorial for molecular compounds - A neat, interactive quiz/tutorial where feedback is instantaneous. Unfortunately it this site only has the molecular compounds. The next link has the ionic compounds. This site requires Shockwave (click on the link for instructions and the FREE download).

Mark Bishop's Ionic compound tutorial - The compliment to the previous link as it has the ionic (not molecular). This too needs Shockwave.

Perdue University - this has 50 practice problems that will give you instant feedback, but unfortunately it only deals with the molecular compounds.

Rainbow Matrix - a fantastic game for ionic nomenclature developed by Dr. Joe Chimeno and linked to from teacher Neil Rapp's chemistry page. FOLLOW THE SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS BELOW IF YOU ARE USING THIS SITE.

Special instructions:

• The site provides you with some system requirement instructions and pop-up blocker instructions. Use this as a reference if you have any problems.
• Click on the "Go to Rainbow Matrix!" button
• If the option pops up and gives a choice to "Practice" or "Test", choose the "Practice" button. If the option does not pop-up, you can practice anyway and in the end you will be asked to "mail" to the teacher. DO NOT MAIL ANYTHING TO THE TEACHER AS IT WILL GO TO NEIL RAPP AND NOT YOUR TEACHER.

Instructions on playing the game:

• Click the "Start it" button. This will randomly begin the game.
• Click the "Stop it" button to stop the random selections
• You will then need to move the Blue and Red pieces into the center (as many as necessary) to construct a rectangle with no cut ridges. The points of the Blue (anion) will fit into the Red (cation) to close the rectangle.
• Click on the word "Compound" at the bottom and write the chemical formula. Use [ ] for all subscripts. You do not need to type in the charges.
• "Check it" will check your answer to see if it is correct.
• You will then be asked to name the compound. Name it but be careful to not leave a space for any cation that requires a Roman Numeral. Ex. iron(III) oxide where there is no space between the n and (.
• If you had it correct it will take you back to the game. Click "Reset it" and then start over with "Start it" for the next problem.

NOTE: the game is very peculiar about the format and little errors (even when you know you have the correct answer) in format will cause it to give you a statement telling you it is incorrect. This can be frustrating. Use the "Help" button in the corner for more details on how to play the game so that you can master the peculiar formatting things that are required. Once you get these, the game can be a lot of fun.

Complete at least one of the quizzes or games that actually has practice problems (not concentration or hangman) that deals with ionic compounds..

4. Be honest, what was your score?

Complete one of the activities above that has problems for covalent compounds.

5. Be honest, what was your score?

Save this site in your "favorites" so that you can practice with these games and quizzes at any time.

Now that you have practiced, solve the problems below for a grade. Remember, there will be an in-class quiz very soon on the material. If you are not taking this seriously, you will only be hurting yourself.