Binary Compounds

It is vital to have basic knowledge of the compounds as well as chemicals as it is important for our safety. Many chemicals that we observe daily can be very reactive and should be handled carefully. Chemistry helps us to understand which of the chemical compounds can be harmful and which compounds are safe. Here we will have a brief look at the binary compounds and the different aspects associated with them.

The binary compounds are those compounds that contain exactly two types of different elements. The word binary is derived from Bi, which essentially means two. These compounds tend to show strong chemical bonds like ionic, metallic, and covalent.

The List of the Binary Ionic Compounds

The significance of the binary compounds was elevated to a new level after the ionic compounds were discovered. Most ionic compounds in the periodic table are essentially two-element compounds, where one of the compounds is non-metal and the other compound is metal. The binary ionic compounds tend to start from two compounds but they can be incredibly complex in terms of their properties and they can form polyatomic ionic compounds. The list of some of the binary ionic compounds is as follows: NaCl, Li3N, and MgO. 

Difference between Binary Acids and Binary Compounds

A lot of students get confused when the question asks them to name binary acids. First, we need to clear out the definition of binary acids; well, it will be much easier if we take an example. Let’s look at three compounds, mainly hydriodic acid, hydrofluoric acid, and hydrobromic acid. Now here you noticed one thing. 

All the compounds have one element in common, and that is your hydrogen atom. Still, on the other hand, all the remaining three compounds are non-metal, these are iodine, fluorine, and bromine, which makes them binary acids. These acids have one hydrogen element and a nonmetal element. All three compounds that we have written in the example are bonded together, a hydrogen element from a non-metal.

The other difference between binary acids and binary compounds is that the strength of binary acids depends on the bond between the hydrogen atom and the other given element. The weaker is the bond; the stronger will be the acid. 

Each binary acid that we have in chemistry starts with the prefix “hydro,” followed by the name of other elements, and in the postfix, we add “-ic.” Thus, if you have a binary acid from two given elements, Hydrogen, and chlorine, then you will name that acid as hydro+chlo+ric acid. 

The Naming of Binary Compounds

Naming the compound in chemistry is an important requirement. Here are some of the steps that you need to follow for naming the binary compound. First, there is a cation, and after that comes anion in the order. When we are using the cation having a fixed oxidation state, we take the name directly from the periodic table. The anion name will come up by the root of the element’s name having an addition of the suffix “-ide”. 

The Examples of the Binary Compounds

Now we will try naming the binary compounds with the help of some examples. All of these examples consist of only one charge, and it has the inclusion of both cation as well as anion within the given formula.

Example: Writing the name of the formula KCI.

The 1st part of the name comes from the 1st element within the given formula. So for instance “K” is the chemical symbol of potassium. The postfix is the root of 1st name of the 2nd symbol that is “CI” and the element name is Chloride. Now we can add the postfix after having taken the root from the 2nd symbol by adding “-ide” and here we have the complete name. So, as a result, we get KCl which is read as Potassium Chloride.