Question

Question #9a163

Answer 1

iron (II) phosphate
OR
ferrous phosphate

Explanation:

I'm assuming that it is `Fe_3(PO_4)_2`.

Phosphate has a charge of -3 (`PO_4^(3-)`). Iron can have charges of +2 or +3 (`Fe^(2+) or Fe^(3+)`). Since there are three iron cations per phosphate, then there are two phosphate polyatomic anions. This means that iron (II) is the charge of the iron. If it were iron (III), the formula would be `FePO_4`.

So, we have iron (II) and phosphate. Since we list the cation first, the formula is iron (II) phosphate. You see that there is another possible answer. Iron (II) uses stock system nomenclature. If you use classical system nomenclature, iron (II) is called ferrous.