Question

What is the name of this binary compound: \[NaF\] \[?\]

Answer 1

Hint: When naming the binary compounds following steps are important. First, the order followed to name in binary compounds is such that the cation is named first and then the anion. Then from the periodic table consider cation with a fixed oxidation state. While the anion is named by taking the elemental name, removing the ending and adding “ide”.

Complete answer:
The binary compounds are chemical compounds made by combining two distinct elements (anion and cation). An element is a substance that cannot be further divided into any small substances using chemical methods. Some examples are magnesium oxide, and calcium chloride, etc.
In \[NaF\], the cation \[N{a^ + }\] has an oxidation state of \[ + 1\] and the elemental name of anion \[{F^ - }\] is fluorine. So, “ine” in fluorine is removed and replaced with “ide”.
Hence the name of the binary compound \[NaF\] is Sodium fluoride.

Additional information: Binary acids are a group of acids formed by the bonding of a hydrogen atom to a nonmetal element. When naming a binary acid, we use the prefix “hydro” and suffix “ic”. The strength of binary acids depends on various factors namely bond strength, electronegativity and dissociation constant. Binary acids are much stronger than other types of acids. Example is Hydrochloric Acid.

Note:
Note that there are binary compounds which consist of more than one of each element. For example, water (\[{H_2}O\]) contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Also note that binary compounds are gases and liquids, whereas binary acids are aqueous.