Editing Oxidation state (section)

=== Elements with multiple oxidation states ===
{{hatnote|See also {{Section link||List of oxidation states of the elements}}}}
Most elements have more than one possible oxidation state. For example, carbon has nine possible integer oxidation states from −4 to +4:
:{| class="wikitable"
|+ Integer oxidation states of carbon
|-
! Oxidation state !! Example compound
|-
| −4 || [[methane|{{chem|CH|4}}]]
|-
| −3 || [[ethane|{{chem|C|2|H|6}}]]
|-
| −2 || [[ethylene|{{chem|C|2|H|4}}]], [[chloromethane|{{chem|CH|3|Cl}}]]
|-
| −1 || [[acetylene|{{chem|C|2|H|2}}]], [[benzene|{{chem|C|6|H|6}}]], [[ethylene glycol|{{chem|(CH|2|OH)|2}}]]
|-
| 0 || [[formaldehyde|{{chem|HCHO}}]], [[dichloromethane|{{chem|CH|2|Cl|2}}]]
|-
| +1 || [[glyoxal|{{chem|OCHCHO}}]], [[1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane|{{chem|CHCl|2|CHCl|2|}}]]
|-
| +2 || [[formic acid|{{chem|HCOOH}}]], [[chloroform|{{chem|CHCl|3}}]]
|-
| +3 || [[oxalic acid|{{chem|HOOCCOOH}}]], [[hexachloroethane|{{chem|C|2|Cl|6}}]]
|-
| +4 || [[carbon tetrachloride|{{chem|CCl|4}}]], [[carbon dioxide|{{chem|CO|2}}]]
|}