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The +3 on aluminum refers to its oxidation number. The oxidation number of an atom is the total number of electrons that an atom either gains or loses in order to form a chemical bond with another atom. In this case, aluminum needs three valence electrons to form an octet (to have a total of eight valence electrons). If aluminum were to react with phosphate, PO4-3, the two would share their valence electrons and balance out, forming AlPO4.

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11y ago

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