Back Oksidasietoestand Afrikaans Numero d'oxidación AN حالة الأكسدة Arabic حالة د لأكسدة ARY Estáu d'oxidación AST Окисланыу дәрәжәһе Bashkir Paindikan oksidasi BAN Ступень акіслення Byelorussian Ступень затляненьня BE-X-OLD Степен на окисление Bulgarian
The oxidation state (or oxidation number) of an element is used to predict what sort of chemical compounds form. Every element has oxidation states that it likes, and will not form compounds that would put it in a bad state.
You can look up the oxidation state(s) of an element on many periodic tables. They are usually between −2 and +3. A pure element always has an oxidation state of 0.