## Oxidation Number

$FC=V-(L+\frac{S}{2})$

Kaitlynn Tran 3F
Posts: 54
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2019 12:20 am

### Oxidation Number

How do you find/calculate the oxidation number of an atom? Is there an equation or process?

JohnWalkiewicz2J
Posts: 103
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:17 am
Been upvoted: 1 time

### Re: Oxidation Number

Typically for oxidation numbers you can look at trends on the periodic table.
For instance elements group 1 is most likely to lose one electron, so it has a oxidation number of +1.
Elements Group 2 most likely loses 2 electrons, so its +2, etc. . .

805394719
Posts: 104
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 12:16 am

### Re: Oxidation Number

You can also figure out the oxidation number of atoms by looking at the oxidation number of other atoms in a molecule. For example, we know that the oxidation number of oxygen is -2 so we can find the oxidation number of another atom that is bound to oxygen by making the overall oxidation number equal to the oxidation number of the compound, zero if it is a molecule, and the oxidation number of the ion if it is an ion. This way, the known oxidation numbers of certain atoms can be used to find the oxidation numbers of other compounds, and can be used in finding the oxidation number of the central atom in coordination compounds.