658 views

### What is the oxidation state of Mn in HMn(CO)5?

What is the oxidation state of $\ce{Mn}$ in $\ce{HMn(CO)5}$? If $\ce{H}$ has an oxidation state of $+1$, then $\ce{Mn}$ should have oxidation state of $-1$, which I'm not sure is possible. On the ...
63 views

### Why is it a reduction from a ketone to an alcohol? [closed]

Why is it a reduction from a ketone to an alcohol (using $\ce{LiAlH4}$)? I'm not able to figure out the oxidation state of carbon.
1k views

### An introduction to “oxidation state”/“oxidation number”

I just can't get my head around oxidation states. They're really confusing! Why do I need to assign a number to some element? What are oxidation states? How and why should we assign oxidation states? ...
22k views

### Why is gaining hydrogen called reduction when gaining electrons is called reduction? Aren't they opposites

Reduction is gain of hydrogen (Source) Reduction is gain of electrons (Source) Is it because a hydrogen has an electron so gaining hydrogen is technically gaining electrons? But that doesn't ...
5k views

### Does fluorine in FNO3 have +1 oxidation number?

According to my textbook and also Wikipedia, fluorine nitrate is a compound which can be created (though it is unstable). Also my textbook says that fluorine has a $+1$ oxidation state. But how is $+1$...
2k views

### Oxidation state of fluorine in HOF

What should be the oxidation state of $\ce{F}$ in $\ce{HOF}$. As fluorine is the most electronegative element in the periodic table, it should be $-1$. But when I googled it, I found that many ...
1k views

### Why would phosphorus pentoxide be called 'phosphorus(v) oxide'?

There's a question in the chemistry textbook I use with my GCSE class which asks pupils to identify which of various compounds feature ionic bonding. One of the compounds is phosphorus(V) oxide, which ...
492 views

### Find oxidation number of a metal in a compound

Calculate the oxidation number of $\ce{Fe}$ in $\ce{Fe2O3}$. Alright. So we have a metal and an non metal. This means that iron will lose electrons and give them to oxygen. So it will be a positive ...
31k views

### Oxidation state of the sulfur atoms in the thiosulfate Ion

What are the oxidation states of the two inequivalent sulfur atoms of the $\ce{S2O3^{2-}}$ molecule? For all I know is that Lewis Structure does matter in most of the cases.
18k views

### What should be the oxidation state of oxygen in HOF (hypofluorous acid)?

What should be the oxidation state of oxygen in $\ce{HOF}$ (hypofluorous acid)? Sources on the internet have confused me. Most state its oxidation state to be 0, while the others state that it is -2 (...
I have got the homework to balance the following redox reaction. $\ce{Cr(OH)3- + HO2- -> Cr2O7^{-2} + OH- }$(Basic medium) To balance this reaction first thing we need to do is to find the ...