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An -ate or -ite at the end of a compound name usually indicates that the compound contains what?

Answer 1

An old chestnut; the #"ite"# ending usually designates the next LOWER oxidation state. It generally relates to ions that contain more than one oxygen atom.

Sodium sulfate versus sodium sulfite, #Na_2SO_4# versus #Na_2SO_3#. In the sulfate, sulfur expresses its maximum oxidation state, #S(+VI)#; in the sulfite, #Na_2SO_3#, we have #S(+IV)#.

Take perchlorates, and chlorates: #ClO_4^-# versus #ClO_3^-#, i.e. #Cl(+VII)# versus #Cl(+V)#. And then there are chlorites and hypochlorites. This naming system is a bit old-fashioned, and tends not to be used anymore.

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Answer 2

Mateo Aguilar

When a compound name ends in -ate or -ite, it typically means that the compound contains an oxyanion, a polyatomic ion made up of one or more oxygen atoms bonded to a central atom, which is typically a nonmetal.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.