Oxidation States

[Ye Rim Park 1J]

I don't know if this was said in class already, but will we be required to memorize any common oxidation states at some point during the course? I know Lavelle mentioned a few, like O^-2 and the halogens.

[Maya Schnall 3J]

He hasn't mentioned any more yet since the first day of electrochemistry in the course reader, so hopefully not.

[Spencer Johnson 1C]

I don't think so. I think he said they would be given to us on the test kind of like the bond enthalpies were given.

[annchen0628]

You can also work out most of the oxidation states from the equation given.

[Bryan Trieu 1F]

I doubt that we would have to know any oxidation states for obscure examples but the basics most likely are fair game

[Jasminemay Barcelon 2G]

I memorized a few oxidation states for the midterm and I somewhat remember how to calculate them from Chem 14A, however I was wondering what other methods you guys implemented in finding the oxidation states for the cathodes and anodes because it took quite a while for me to be sure with my answers.

[Amy Pai]

For oxidation states of individual atoms in a polyatomic ion, I basically just go by H is 1+ (Alkali group +1), O is 2- (along with most halogens), and the alkaline earth metals are 2+. So basically following the trend with how many valence electrons they need.

The oxidation states you need to find are usually for cationic metals, so just add up all other charges listed above, subtract from the overall polyatomic charge, and get the remaining for the last element.

[Rachel Russell 4B]

Is there a way to figure out what each oxidation state is or does it just have to be memorized for each atom?

[Andrew Yoon 1L]

I think that the only oxidation states that you have to memorize for this class are O = 2- and H = 1+. Those two were the only ones I needed when solving practice problems. Outside of this class, there is an oxidation number hierarchy that can be seen here: https://chem142.wikispaces.com/Hierarchical+Rules+For+Assiging+Oxidation+States