Is There a Definitive Guide to Naming Nonorganic Compounds?

[dduardo]

Is there a definitive guide to naming nonorganic compounds. Preferable some type of flow chart diagram of some sort. I can't imagine how many times an experiment went horrible wrong because of the illogical nature of the naming system.

 

[Moonbear]

One thing chemistry definitely has are good naming rules for everything! IUPAC rules are the standard. I actually think nomenclature for inorganic compounds is far more straightforward than for organic compounds. Trouble usually arises when folks use non-systemic names (in other words, common names...sort of the equivalent to biologists calling a dog a dog rather than by a species name Canis familiaris...you've never heard a chemist talking about dihydrogen oxide, they call it water too). Of course, when in doubt, skip the name and use the chemical formula...much more unambiguous.