6A17

[Rachel Yu 1G]

Decide whether oxides are acidic, basic or amphoteric
a. BaO
b. SO2
c. AsO3
d. Bi2O3

Can someone explain how to determine the property of these molecules?

[MAC 4G]

The general rule is that nonmetal oxides are acidic, metal oxides are basic, and semimetal oxides are amphoteric.

Try drawing out lewis structures and seeing if the compound can give, receive, or both give and receive lone pairs. If it can do both then its amphoteric.

Here's an explanation for part c and d. viewtopic.php?t=610

[Nick Fiorentino 1E]

For me, I had trouble with knowing how c and d were amphoteric. Metalloids are amphoteric and they are marked on the periodic table as the elements that are between the metals and nonmetals; they follow a diagonal band.