Charge of Cobalt in coordinate compound

[Somin Lee]

Can someone please explane why Co's charge is +3 in [Co(NH3)6]3+?
I thought NH3 has +1 charge each which makes +6, so Co has to be -3 to make 3+ charge.
Can someone please explain where I got it wrong?

[Aida Fraser 2I]

I think NH3 is neutral, with a formal charge of zero. So Co has to have a +3 charge.

[Somin Lee]

I think NH3 is neutral, with a formal charge of zero. So Co has to have a +3 charge.

omg you're right. I think I got confused with NH4+. Thank you!

[Michelle Jeong 1B]

NH3 is neutral so Cobalt's charge is the same as the overall charge

[Olivia Ghorai 1J]

Hello,

NH3 is neutral! If you draw out the lewis structure of it you will see that nitrogen has formed single bonds with all three hydrogens, and has a lone pair, which gives all the atoms involved a formal charge of 0. With that in mind, all the ligands that have formed coordinate covalent bonds with the Cobalt are neutral, yet the complex overall has a charge of 3+, thus the cobalt ion must have the oxidation state of +3

[Harshitha_Pandian_3F]

NH3 is neutral in this compound and if you need to have the complete charge on the molecule of +3 the only way it can happen is if the Cobalt has a +3 oxidation number.

[Marilyn]

Since the overall charge is +3 and it's attached to a neutral compound, the charge +3 comes from colbat

[305805394]

Hi,

I think that the 6 ammine ligands are not charged. And since the overall oxidation state of the complex is 3+, the oxidation state of Cobalt, which contributes to all electron charges, is also 3+.

Please note that ligands could donate both of the electrons to form a covalent bond to the central atom that is counted into the coordination number.

Hope this could address your concerns.

[Joan Moci 1J]

Since the overall charge is 3+ and NH3 is neutral, the charge must be coming from the cobalt, making cobalt have a charge of +3

[Brooklyn Burgess 3L]

we find the charge based on setting the net charge of the coord. compound to zero and do algebra.

[Albert 1I]

NH3 is a neutral molecule and thus the total charge of the coordination compound is plus 3. This means the TM must have a plus three charge to account for this.

[Nicola Higgins 14B]

While NH4 has a +1 charge, NH3 is neutral.

[cnyland]

+3 charge

[Luke Schwuchow 14A]

Where you went wrong was mistaking NH4 for NH3. This charge doesn't even need to be memorized and can be calculated. Since hydrogen is in period 1, it has a charge of +1. Since nitrogen is in period 15, the charge is -3. Depending on the mount of hydrogen and nitrogen, you can calculate its charge.