Chlorate

But sulfate has four oxygens.

Chlorate has three.

It's not about the number of oxygens.

It's just that ite has one less oxygen than the ates.

Writing the formula of an acid is easy if you know what the anion is.

Because ClO3 has a negative one charge, you can tell that it will bond with just one hydrogen ion to form HClO3.

Now, when we name these acids and anions, we have to kind of watch our mouths, because in the realm of chemistry, there's a whole system of prefixes and suffixes that you have to keep track of to make sure you're addressing everyone by the proper title.

You know, you don't want to offend anyone.

That's right, even though an acid is defined by its ability to give up hydrogen ions, it is identified by its oxygen content.

Eh, when in chemistry.

Let's go back to that ClO3-.

You might know that as the chlorate ion.