All of these radicals are considered to be in their base state, i.e, containing the “normal” number of oxygen atoms present in that oxyradical. When metal is added to any oxyradical in the base state, the compound ends in “ate,” such as sodium phosphate. Oxyradicals may be found with varying numbers of oxygen atoms. There may be more or less oxygen atoms in a compound than the base state. Regardless of the number of oxygen atoms on the oxyradical, the charges of the radical dose not change. When naming compound with one additional oxygen atoms, the prefix “per” is use; to indicate excess oxygen over the base state, the ending is still “ate.” When the number of oxygen atoms is one less than the Base state of an oxyradical, the ending of the oxyradical name is “ite.” An example is magnesium sulfite (MgSO). Furthermore, an oxyradical can have two less oxygen atoms than