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What Compound Has the Name NaF?

Answer – The compound with the name NaF is sodium fluoride.

Explanation: 

NaF is a binary (two-element) compound. It is composed of a metal (Na) and a nonmetal (F) and is, therefore, an ionic compound. Na loses one electron and becomes a cation (with a positive charge), while F picks up the electron and becomes an anion (with a negative charge).

The naming convention for binary ionic compounds involves the following steps:

1. Write the name of the metal as it appears on the periodic table. 

Na is the symbol for sodium. So the first part of the compound name is “sodium.”

2. Name the non-metal as it appears on the periodic table but replace the ending with -ide.

F is the symbol for fluorine. Its ending -ine is replaced with -ide and written as “fluoride.”

The chemical name of the compound NaF is thus Sodium fluoride. It is a colorless/white solid that dissolves in water. It finds use in metallurgy, the fluoridation of drinking water, and toothpastes.


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