What is the oxidation number for iron?

1 Answer
Ernest Z.
Jan 5, 2017

The oxidation number of the element #"Fe"# is 0.

Explanation:

However, the oxidation number of #"Fe"# in its compounds can take different values.

The most common oxidation numbers of #"Fe"# are +2, as in #"FeCl"_2#, and +3, as in #"FeCl"_3#.

Compounds are known in which iron has other oxidation numbers, but they are relatively unimportant at this level of study.

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