Polyatomic ions have special names. Many of them contain oxygen and are called oxyanions. When only one oxyanion for an element exists, the ending of the primary element is given the ‘-ate’ ending. For example, the oxyanion of carbon is called carbonate (CO₃ 2- ). However, when different oxyanions exist using the same element but have a different number of oxygen atoms, prefixes and suffixes are used to tell them apart. For example, if two oxyanions exist, the one with the lower number of oxygens will be given the ‘-ite’ ending and the one with more oxygens will be given the ‘-ate’ ending.

Ler maisstep step step step step 3.8 Services and Sort of Ionic Compounds