General Chemistry for the Health Care Professions

General Chemistry
for the
Health Care Professions

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1-10. NUMBER PREFIXES

We often use prefixes to denote the number of atoms of an element in a compound. For example, CO contains one oxygen atom and is named carbon monoxide. Mon or mono indicates one atom. Here is a list of the commonly used number prefixes:

	Examples
Mono, mo = one	CO	Carbon monoxide
Di = two	CO₂	Carbon dioxide
Tri = three	SO₃	Sulfur trioxide
Tetra = four	CF₄	Carbon tetrafluoride
Penta = five
Hexa = six
Hepta = seven
Octa = eight
Nona = nine
Deca = ten

Original content of this course is supplied by Academy of Health Sciences
Fort Sam Houston, Tx.