Writing Formulas for Ionic Compounds

People got confused when they were trying to make ionic compounds from the compound names. It's simple, really, it's just basic multiplication and addition.
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For the first example, I'll write the formula for Beryllium Phosphate:

The first thing you should do is write down the ions in the compound name.

Beryllium:    Be⁺²
Phosphate:  PO₄^-3

The second thing you need to do is balance the charges, so they equal zero. The two charges we have at the moment are +2 and -3, which add up to -1, not 0. To make them equal zero, you need different amounts of the chemicals, which would multiply the charges.

Be⁺²                           PO₄^-3

With this, we would have three beryllium ions and two phosphate ions.
2*3 = 6               -3*2= -6
Making this the formula name for beryllium phosphate:
Be₃(PO₄)₂
See, the charges are nullified. If the parentheses are confusing, remember that they just keep the ion together,  and the subscript two after the parentheses means that there are two phosphate ions.
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For the second, easier, example, I'll do potassium chlorate:

First, write down the ions in the compound name.

Potassium:   K  ⁺¹
Chlorate:      ClO₃^-1

Again, you have to balance the charges so that they add up to 0.

K  ⁺¹                      ClO₃^-1

1+-1 = 0

These ions already balance each other out, so you don't have to do anything.
So, potassium chlorate is KClO₃ .
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\if that makes sense

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