Chlorate ion (ClO₃⁻)
- Charge
- −1
- Atoms
- Cl, O × 3
- Atoms in total
- 4
- Mass of the ion
- 83.447 g/mol
Chlorate is one chlorine atom with three oxygen atoms, carrying a 1− charge. It is the anion of chloric acid, HClO₃, with chlorine in the +5 oxidation state. Chlorates are strong oxidizers: potassium chlorate is in the heads of safety matches, and sodium chlorate is made on a huge scale to bleach paper pulp.
- Chlorate is the -ate ion of chlorine; perchlorate has one more oxygen and chlorite one fewer, and all of them carry a 1− charge.
- Bromate, BrO₃⁻, and iodate, IO₃⁻, have the same shape and charge because bromine and iodine sit below chlorine in group 17.
- Heating potassium chlorate, KClO₃, with a little manganese dioxide is a classic way to make oxygen in school labs.