Ternary compound

Sodium phosphate, Na₃PO₄, is a ternary compound.

In chemistry, a ternary compound is a compound containing three different elements. An example of this is sodium phosphate, Na₃PO₄. The sodium ion has a charge of 1+ and the phosphate ion has a charge of 3-. Therefore, three sodium ions are needed to balance the charge of one phosphate ion. Another example of a ternary compound is calcium carbonate . In naming and writing the formulae for ternary compounds, we follow rules that are similar to binary compounds.(CaCO₃).

See also

• Binary compound