Question

table rows: gaf₃ (gallium fluoride, ionic); ph₃ (phosphine, covalent); cao (calcium oxide, ionic); p₂br₄ (diphosphorus tetrabromide, covalent); nh₃ (ammonia, covalent); mgbr₂ (magnesium bromide, ionic); li₂s (lithium sulfide, ionic); sio₂ (silicon dioxide, covalent); bf₃ (empty name field, covalent). buttons: finish later, submit, check my answers (1 left).

Explanation:

Step1: Identify the compound type

$BF_3$ is a covalent compound (as given in the table) formed by boron (B) and fluorine (F). For covalent compounds, we use prefixes to indicate the number of atoms. Boron has 1 atom (no prefix needed for the first element if there's 1), and fluorine has 3 atoms (prefix "tri-").

Step2: Name the compound

The first element is boron, the second is fluorine (changed to "fluoride" for covalent naming). So combining with the prefix for fluorine, we get "boron trifluoride".

Answer:

boron trifluoride