Question

n₂o is the chemical formula of a covalent compound used in the production of whipping cream. its first name is nitrogen and the second name is oxide. what is the chemical name of this compound? nitrogen monoxide nitrogen monooxide dinitrogen monoxide dinitrogen monooxide

Explanation:

For covalent compounds, the prefixes indicate the number of atoms. In \(N_2O\), there are 2 nitrogen (\(N\)) atoms (prefix "di -" for 2) and 1 oxygen (\(O\)) atom (prefix "mono -" for 1). The suffix for oxygen in such compounds is " - oxide". So we use "dinitrogen" (for 2 \(N\) atoms) and "monoxide" (for 1 \(O\) atom). The prefix "mono -" is used for the second element (oxygen here). Also, we don't use "mono -" for the first element if there's only one atom of it, but here there are two \(N\) atoms. And the correct spelling for the oxygen part is " - oxide" not " - ooxide".

Answer:

C. dinitrogen monoxide