[en] An array of 34 fast/slow plastic scintillators has been used to identify fragments from the breakup of ¹⁶O, ¹⁴N, and ¹²C projectiles at 32.5 MeV/nucleon, scattered by a Au target. The dissociation of ¹⁶O into as many as five charged particles has been observed. The yields of the different channels correlate approximately with the threshold energy for separation of the projectile into the observed fragments. The excitation spectrum of the primary projectile fragment was deduced from the measured positions and kinetic energies of the individual fragments. These spectra show that, although most of the decomposition proceeds through excitation energies within /approximately/20 MeV of the lower particle-decay thresholds, excitation energies extending up to /approximately/80 MeV can be produced in the primary stage of the reaction. This represents a significant acquisition of energy by the projectile. Calculations of the yields based on a sequence of binary decays have been presented. Reactions in which one or two units of charge are acquired by the projectile were also observed. 25 refs., 10 figs