In chemistry, the names of many simple compounds are created by keeping the metal's name and changing the end of the nonmetal's name to '-ide,' turning sodium and chlorine into 'sodium chloride'.
Roman numerals in chemical names, like in 'Iron(III) oxide', are used to specify the exact positive charge of a metal ion that can have multiple different charges.
The common household cleaner 'washing soda' is actually a hydrate, meaning each molecule of the chemical sodium carbonate is attached to ten molecules of water.
A simple mnemonic for naming acids: if the base ion ends in '-ate' the acid is '-ic' (I ate something icky), and if it ends in '-ite' the acid is '-ous' (a snakebite is venomous).
In chemistry, the suffix '-ite' on a polyatomic ion like nitrite (NO2-) means it has exactly one fewer oxygen atom than its '-ate' counterpart, nitrate (NO3-).
