The
oxidation state, often called the
oxidation number, is an indicator of the degree of
oxidation (loss of electrons) of an
atom in a
chemical compound. Conceptually, the oxidation state, which may be positive, negative or zero, is the
hypothetical charge that an atom would have if all
bonds to atoms of different elements were 100%
ionic, with no
covalent component. This is never exactly true for real bonds.