Final answer:
Binary ionic compounds consist of metal cations and nonmetal anions, with the metal named first followed by the nonmetal with '-ide.' The compound's chemical formula must be balanced to achieve electrical neutrality. Metals with multiple possible charges are specified with Roman numerals in the compound's name.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding the process of achieving electrical neutrality in binary ionic compounds is essential when writing chemical formulas or naming these compounds. A binary ionic compound is one that consists of a monatomic metal cation and a monatomic nonmetal anion. When naming the compound, the metal is always listed first with its elemental name, and the nonmetal anion follows with an '-ide' suffix. For instance, NaCl is named sodium chloride because Na is the metal sodium, and Cl is the nonmetal chloride.
Writing formulas for binary ionic compounds involves balancing the charges of the cations and anions to ensure that the overall compound is electrically neutral. For example, magnesium chloride has the chemical formula MgCl2 because the magnesium ion has a charge of +2 (Mg2+) and the chloride ion has a charge of -1 (Cl-), so two chloride ions are needed to balance the charge of one magnesium ion.
If a metal can form ions with different charges, a Roman numeral is included after the metal name in the compound to indicate the charge on the metal ion. For instance, iron can form Fe2+ and Fe3+, so FeCl2 is called iron(II) chloride and FeCl3 is called iron(III) chloride.