Naming compounds requires different rules for ionic and molecular (covalent) compounds. For ionic compounds, you name the cation (positive ion) first, then the anion (negative ion) by changing its ending to "-ide" (e.g., sodium chloride). For molecular compounds, you use Greek prefixes (like di-, tri-, tetra-) to show the number of each atom in the molecule, placing the element name with the -ide suffix last (e.g., carbon dioxide). Ionic Compounds Write the full name of the metal (cation) . Exam