Question
What is the name of the compound Al_(2)O_(3) Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Trioxide Dialuminum Trioxide Alumnioxide
Answer
3.7
(220 Votes)
Alexandra
Veteran · Tutor for 12 years
Answer
C
Explanation
The chemical formula of a compound can be but is not always suggestive of the compound's systematic name. According to the IUPAC convention for naming inorganic compounds, a binary compound of Aluminum (Al) and Oxygen (O) is named by employing the Greek numerical prefixes (di-, tri-, tetra-, etc.). The convention also tends to use the -ide suffix associated with distribution among the elements from the far right side of the Periodic Table (like Oxygen). So, Al2 implies "di-Aluminum" and O3 implies "trioxide". Hence, the most systematic name of the compound Al2O3 is Dialuminum Trioxide. It is important mention, though, that Al2O3 is most commonly referred to as Aluminum Oxide in regular language.