The non-metallic oxides are binary compounds, which are formed from the combination of a nonmetal and oxygen, in particular oxidation number 2.
Common Examples of non-metallic oxides are Oxides of Phosphorus, Oxides of nitrogen, oxides of carbon, Carbon monoxide, Carbon dioxide, Carbon suboxide and, Oxides of sulfur.
It is common that they are also recognized under the name of acid oxides or anhydrides, and that they are formulated using the symbol of the non-metallic element next to the valence of oxygen (2) plus oxygen next to the valence of the non-metallic element. In mathematical simplification, it is common for the formulation to lose that shape.
Although non-metallic oxides can appear in all three states, they are more frequently found in the gaseous form because their molecules tend to be quite small and not very polar. In this same sense, it can be said that oxides of this type frequently have a rather low boiling point.
The combination is then made between oxygen and nonmetals. When we talk about them, we are not referring to any substance except metals, but in particular to the elements located to the right of the periodic table, constituting only a group of 25 elements that have hydrogen as the best known. The union between the two elements is given by a
covalent bond.
On the physical properties of these non-metallic oxides it can be said that they have different colors and that, with the exception of the non-metal iodine, they lack metallic luster.
Solids tend to be more brittle with some being harder and others softer. They are not good conductors of heat and electricity, and rather tend to form anions or oxyanions in an aqueous solution: this happens because the outer layers contain four or more electrons, and sometimes gain a few more.
Non-metallic oxides are usually a fundamental cause of environmental problems since their presence in nature is a source of the diffusion of the greenhouse effect and acid rain.
In this sense, it must be said that in addition to their frequency of appearance among what is generated in an eruption of a volcano, it is also frequent to find them detached from industrial activity.
Like almost everything related to molecular combinations, there are three ways to name these substances:
- Traditional nomenclature: according to the number of valences of the non-metallic element, the suffix that completes the non-metal that proceeds to the word anhydride is defined (for one valence ‘ico’, for two valences ‘bear’ and ‘ico’, for three ‘hiccup … bear’, ‘bear’, ‘icon’, for four valences ‘hiccup … bear’, ‘bear’, ‘icon’, ‘per … ico’.
- Stock nomenclature: the conjunction ‘oxide of’ is written and completed with the non-metallic element followed by, in parentheses, the valence number with which it acts in Roman numerals.
- Systematic nomenclature : according to the number of atoms of the non-metallic element, a prefix is formed (‘mono’, ‘di’, ‘tri’, ‘tetra’, ‘penta’, ‘hexa’ or ‘hepta’) that precedes’ oxide (and the element) ‘. In this way, there is a clear reference to its formulation.
Examples of non-metallic oxides
The following list will include twenty non-metallic oxides, under the traditional nomenclature:
- Silicon anhydride ( SiO 2 )
- Carbon dioxide ( CO )
- Carbon dioxide ( CO 2 )
- Hypochlorous anhydride ( Cl 2 O )
- Chlorine anhydride ( Cl 2 O 3 )
- Chloric anhydride ( Cl 2 or 5 )
- Perchloric anhydride ( Cl 2 O 7 )
- Hyposulfurous anhydride ( SO )
- Sulfurous anhydride ( SO 2 )
- Sulfuric anhydride ( SO 3 )
- Telluric anhydride ( TeO 2 )
- Nitrous anhydride ( N 2 O 3 )
- Nitric anhydride ( N 2 O 5 )
- Manganous anhydride ( MnO 2 )
- Manganic anhydride ( MnO 3 )
- Permanganic anhydride ( Mn 2 O 7 )
- Hypoiodine anhydride ( I 2 O )
- Iodine anhydride ( I 2 O 3 )
- Iodic anhydride ( I 2 O 5 )
- Periodic anhydride ( I 2 O 7 )
