Question

name the compound baso₄. options: barium monosulfur tetraoxygen, barium(ii) sulfate, barium tetrasulfate, barium sulfate

Explanation:

To name \( \text{BaSO}_4 \), we analyze the ions: \( \text{Ba}^{2+} \) (barium ion) and \( \text{SO}_4^{2-} \) (sulfate ion). Since barium has a fixed charge of \( +2 \) (Group 2 metal), we don't need to specify the charge in parentheses for ionic compounds with polyatomic ions here. The first option uses a molecular naming style (prefixes), which is incorrect for ionic compounds. "Barium(II) sulfate" is technically correct but unnecessary as barium's charge is fixed. "Barium tetrasulfate" is wrong (the anion is sulfate, not tetrasulfate). The correct name is formed by combining the cation (barium) and the polyatomic anion (sulfate), so it's barium sulfate.

Answer:

D. barium sulfate