What is the oxidation state of a free element? Of a monoatomic ion?
1 Answer
The oxidation state of a free element is
Explanation:
Redox reactions are considered to involve the formal TRANSFER of electrons. Oxidation involves the
When carbon reacts wth dioxygen this is certainly a formal redox process:
Both reactants are ZEROVALENT, i.e. a
Alternatively we could represent the oxidation of elemental iodine to iodate,
Both mass and charge are balanced as is required.
For the monoatomic ion, the charge on the ion is simply the oxidation number:
Again this is rationalized in terms of electron transfer.