posted by murrayjames on July 21, 2012 | 3 comments
Today I learned that NaOH is pronounced 氢氧化钠 in Chinese. The reading order (right to left) is opposite from English (Sodium Hydroxide). I think 氧化 means -oxide, or to oxidize.

Are there general rules for reading chemical compounds in Chinese?

How do you read chemical compounds with numbers, say, H2SO4?
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murrayjames on July 25, 2012 | reply
How do you read H2SO4 in Chinese?
Echo on July 25, 2012 | reply
@murrayjames,

H2SO4是硫酸。一般来说，除了像氧气，水，硫酸这样常用名以外，读化学名词的时候都是：

1. 先读后面的元素+“化”+前面的元素。比如NaOH，读成氢H氧O+化+钠，氢氧化钠。

2. 如果有数字，要把数字读出来。比如CO2，读成二氧+化+碳，二氧化碳。

3. 如果只有两种元素，后面的元素没有数字的，也要读出”一“，比如SO，要读成一氧化硫。

4. 一般来说都是四个字的。

另外，我的化学不太好....所以，欢迎大家补充。

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com

murrayjames on July 25, 2012 | reply
Echo, thank you for that rather complete answer. Very helpful!