Formal Charge vs. Oxidation #


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Wasila Sun 2I
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Formal Charge vs. Oxidation #

Postby Wasila Sun 2I » Mon Dec 07, 2020 12:54 pm

What is the difference between formal charges of an atom in a compound/salt/molecule and its oxidation number?
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Crystal Yu 1D
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Re: Formal Charge vs. Oxidation #

Postby Crystal Yu 1D » Mon Dec 07, 2020 1:45 pm

The two concepts are not exactly the same, but there are many instances in which the formal charge and the oxidation number may be the same.
This link is pretty useful because it goes into detail for both. I hope it helps! :)

https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Ore ... n%20number.
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Thomas Vu 1A
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Re: Formal Charge vs. Oxidation #

Postby Thomas Vu 1A » Sat Dec 12, 2020 3:52 pm

From what i remember, the formal charge will be found using the formula: valence electrons - total # of single electrons bonded to center atom. Besides using the above website link, oxidation state can be found using the periodic table. for example, Mg's oxidation state is +2
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