What are the formal oxidation numbers of carbon in acetic acid?

1 Answer
anor277
Dec 3, 2017

We gots #C(-III)# and #C(+III)#...

Explanation:

Oxidation number/oxidation state is the charge left on the central atom when all the bonding pairs of electrons are broken, with the charge, the electrons, assigned to the most electronegative atom....

And so we got...#H_3C-CO_2H-=3xxstackrel(+I)H+stackrel(-III)C+stackrel(+III)C# #+2xxstackrel(-II)O+stackrel(+I)H#...

And as always, the sum of the oxidation numbers equals the charge on the ion, here ZERO....#3-3+3-4+1=0#

And thus...#H_3stackrel(-III)C-stackrel(+III)CO_2H#

Try it out with #"propanoic acid"#...what about with #"ethane"# and #"propane"# or #"ethyl alcohol"#?

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