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ALUMINUM TRIFLUORIDE
Fluorine can also bond with aluminum. Aluminum has three extra electrons and will easily let the Fluorine atoms use them. Because Aluminum has three, that means three Fluorines can bond. The make the formula AlF3, also known as Aluminum trifluoride. Each of the Fluorine atoms gets an electron to fill their shell, and the Aluminum loses three, giving it a filled shell too (remember, Aluminum has three extra electrons). The name trifluoride means three Fluorine atoms are involved.
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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ELEMENTS COMBINE?
When several elements come together it is called a compound. Compounds can be made up of two atoms or hundreds of atoms. There are even compounds that have the same number of atoms but have different shapes. These compounds with different shapes are called isomers.
No matter what atoms are in a compound, they all want to be "happy". A happy atom is one with the right number of electrons in the outer orbital. That desire to be happy is why some elements only combine with a few other elements. Not all elements can make each other "happy".
To learn more what makes an atom happy and how it picks other elements to combine with, just click... ![[Button: To Compound Details]](../../art_global/icon_details.gif)
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ALUMINUM TRICHLORIDE
Chlorine can also bond with aluminum. Aluminum has three extra electrons and will easily let the Chlorine atoms use them. Because Aluminum has three, that means three Chlorine atoms can bond. They make the formula AlCl3, also known as Aluminum trichloride. Each of the Chlorine atoms gets an electron to fill its shell, and the Aluminum loses three, giving it a filled shell too (remember, Aluminum has three extra electrons). The name trichloride means three Chlorine atoms are involved.
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HOW DO SCIENTISTS NAME COMPOUNDS?
When you look at the names of some of these compounds... Don't get confused. The names may be long but they all make sense. Scientists came up with a naming system for compounds that is very specific.
You can see that there are usually at least two words. The first word describes the first part of the compound. The second word describes the last part of the compound.
Use H2S as an example. The name of the compound is Hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen is for the H2 part of the formula. Sulfur is the second part so scientists say SULFIDE. There is SULF and then they finish the word with IDE. Most compound names end with IDE.
For the real dirt on naming just click... ![[Button: To Naming Details]](../../art_global/icon_details2.gif)
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ALUMINUM PHOSPHIDE
Aluminum and phosphorus can also bond. Aluminum happens to have three extra electrons. Luckily, every phosphorus atom is looking to gain three electrons. It's a perfect match! Something to notice though, look how they have a bond with six electrons. That bond is known as a triple bond. When a bond has two electrons it is a single bond. When a bond has four electrons it is a double bond. Well take a look at the dots and see what a triple bond looks like!
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DIFFERENT KINDS OF BONDS!
You should know that even though there are two electrons involved in a bond, those electrons can be shared in different ways. Two types of bonds we will talk about are covalent and ionic (electrovalent) bonds.
Ionic bonds happen when electrons are given up by one atom to another. Covalent bonds happen when electrons are shared by both atoms.
If you want to learn more about bonds try this...
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