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Posted 2008-01-11, 05:49 PM
in reply to -Spector-'s post "Small chemistry question"
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-Spector- said:
Okay for anyone who knows anything about chemistry, can you please explain this to me?
The molecule HCO3- is called "Bicarbonate"
But that doesn't make sense to me.. If Bi means 2, I don't see 2 of any element in that molecule. There is 3 Oxygen atoms, but that would result in a "tri" prefix not bi.
Can someone explain this to me please?
gracias.
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CO 3 (2-) is a carbonate ion. It's perfectly acceptable to call HCO 3 hydrogen carbonate. This is the preferred name by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
Carbonate is a polyatomic anion. This means that carbonate is a negatively charged molecule. Any stoichiometry needs to be done to the entire molecule rather than the constituent atoms. Whenever you add a hydrogen atom to a polyatomic anion, it is acceptable to add the prefix bi- to the name of the ion. In contrast, generally di- is the prefix used to signify 'two' in chemistry.
Hope that helps.
Last edited by Demosthenes; 2008-01-11 at 08:11 PM.
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