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The oxidation number of an element in a compound is determined by how many electrons it gains or loses to achieve stability through a full valence shell. Stability can be achieved by reaching a noble gas configuration, where the element has a complete outer shell of electrons. This often corresponds to a specific oxidation state for the element in the compound.

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When an element is oxidized what does its oxidation number do?

When an element is oxidized, its oxidation number increases. Oxidation involves the loss of electrons, so the oxidation number becomes more positive in the process.


What is the definition of Oxidation in terms of oxidation number?

Oxidation refers to the process in which an atom loses electrons, causing an increase in its oxidation number. This results in the atom being oxidized, as it becomes more positively charged and forms a more positive oxidation state.


How does the oxidation number change when an element is oxidized?

Oxidation means there's an increase in oxidation number. Reduction means there's a decrease in oxidation number.


What is the oxidation number of oxygen when combined with fluorine?

The oxidation number of oxygen when combined with fluorine is -1. Oxygen usually has an oxidation number of -2, but when combined with a more electronegative element like fluorine, oxygen's oxidation number becomes -1.


Why do elements with positive oxidation number easily combined with those having a negative oxidation number?

Elements with positive oxidation numbers have excess electrons that they can share or transfer with elements having negative oxidation numbers that have electron deficiencies. This transfer or sharing of electrons allows the elements to achieve a more stable electron configuration, forming compounds through the formation of ionic or covalent bonds.


Why do nonmetals have a negative oxidation number?

Nonmetals tend to gain electrons to achieve a stable electron configuration and become more like noble gases. This results in a negative oxidation number because they gain electrons rather than lose them.


Cerium is stable in 4 oxidation state?

Cerium is known to exist in the +3 and +4 oxidation states. In its +4 oxidation state, cerium is relatively stable due to its half-filled f-orbital, which provides additional stability. This makes cerium a unique element as most lanthanides almost exclusively exhibit a +3 oxidation state.


What do the oxidation number of 2 and -2 imply?

An oxidation number of 2 means the ion has two more protons than electrons. An oxidation number of -2 means the ion has two more electrons than protons.


Can Chlorine oxidation number ever be negative two?

No, that is not possible for Chlorine. Some elements have more than one oxidation number, such as Iron, Mercury, Copper, etc, but Chlorine only wants to gain one electron. If it had a -2 charge, it would not be stable, so that would never happen.


What is the oxidation number of IF?

The oxidation number of iodine in IF is +1 because fluorine is more electronegative than iodine and will take on a charge of -1. Since the compound is neutral, the oxidation number of iodine must be +1 to balance the -1 charge of fluorine.


What is the oxidation numbers of alkaline metals?

The question should be either 'alkali metals' or 'alkaline earth metals'. For alkali metals or group 1 elements, the oxidation number is +1 (note. hyddrogen can have +1 and -1). For alkaline earth metals, the oxidation number is +2 In addition all these elements will have an oxidation number of 0 in their elemental form


Does an element that loses electrons when bonding with other atoms have a negative oxidation number?

No. The lower (or 'more negative') the oxidation number, the more electrons the atom has. This is because the oxidation number is a measure of the charge on that molecule and, since electrons have negative charge, more of them give a more negative oxidation number. So if an atom loses electrons during bonding, it has lost some of its negative charge - giving it a more positive oxidation number.