Charges

[Maggie Doan 1I]

How do you find the charges of each of the elements with the complexes?

[Ashley Zhu 1A]

You know that molecules like ammonia (NH3) have a zero charge and compounds like cyanide (CN-) have charges on them. Add the charge of the compound/molecule to the oxidation state of the anion (i.e. -1 for Cl). Then, you look at the overall charge of the coordinate compound to figure out the oxidation state of the metal. For example, if the sum of the molecule and anion charges is -2 and the overall charge on the coordination compound is 0, then the metal has a charge of +2.

[Jack Mitchell 3J]

You just have to memorize the charges for most common ligands. then take the charge of the ligands and subtract the total chrge of the ligands to find the charge of the central atom.

[michelle]

You can usually know the overall charge of the complex from the question. Utilize your knowledge for the charges of the most common ligands to calculate the ones unknown.(usually only one)

[mayra martinez 1D]

There are also tables you can look at online that can give you a general idea of what to expect the charges of the elements to be. For example, you can look at trends in ionic charge and it shows that for elements in the left side of the periodic table charges will be positive and for the right side charges are mostly negative and that in transition metals it can vary.