Oxidation Number

[AlyssaPeckham1A]

How do you solve for the oxidation number?

[Silvino Jimenez 1A]

In order to find oxidation number you must pay attention to the following:


- Overall charge of the ion
- The number of ligands and each ligand's charge
- Number of metal atoms

The oxidation number of the Iron (Fe) in the picture below is 3+. I determined the oxidation number by paying attention to the the values mentioned above.

The ions overall charge is 3-

There are 6 ligands, all w a 1- charge.

In order to balance the charge inside the brakets to add up to the overall charge of 3- outside, Iron must have a 3+ charge or oxidation number of 3!