Talk:Sodium acetate

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I am far from a chemistry expert (this is just my first year teaching the subject in high school, so I guess I'm still learning), but wouldn't the Na come first in the chemical formula? My class learned that the positive ion comes first - is that wrong? Thanks, Applejuicefool 21:22, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

I am far from an expert as well, but I believe that the sodium would come first if we are treating acetate as simply a complex anion, C₂H₃O₂^-. However, the negative charge resides on the singly-bond oxygen and this is best represented as a methyl, CH₃, then a doubly-bond oxygen, O, and finally, the O^-: thus CH₃OONa, where the cationic sodium is next to the anionic O. This difference is really thanks to organic and inorganic trends and in chemistry I believe. Because binomial nomenclature predominates at the early high school level and "methyl" and "carboxyl" are meaningless, the form NaC₂H₃O₂ is preferred. Does this make sense? Srnec 19:05, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Being an organic chemist, perhaps I'm placed best to answer this question. When writing structural formulas, the counter ion is usually placed at the end. In this case, one should write CH₃COONa or CH₃CO₂Na. Bruto formulas are essentially useless in applied chemistry and should not be used. However, when writing condensed formulas, the position of the counter ion can change as to reflect the notation of inorganic salts: most people write NaOAc and not AcONa. Keep in mind that there are no formal rules for this (as far as I'm aware) and that people will write just what they prefer. Sorry if it makes your head spin. ;) Carbon warrior 12:06, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Solubility

The solubility on this page contradicts the numbers at solubility table. Any idea on which one's correct? Also, the solubility on this article is given as 76 g/100 ml at 0 C, which makes it a surprisingly high number (and an unusual temperature). Does anyone confident in their chemistry know the answer? Zashaw 20:23, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Molecular Formula

Shouldn't the molecular formula be changed from CH₃CO₂Na to C₂H₃O₂Na ? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.172.200.14 (talk) 22:26, 28 February 2007 (UTC).