What is the oxidation number sulfur in H2S?

1 Answer
Meave60
Oct 24, 2015

The sulfur atom in hydrogen sulfide is #"-2"#

Explanation:

The sum of the oxidation numbers in a compound must equal zero. In the compound hydrogen sulfide, #"H"_2"S"#, the two hydrogen atoms have an oxidation number of #"+1"#, for a total of #"+2"#. Therefore, the oxidation number of sulfur in the compound is #"-2"#, and the sum of the oxidation numbers is #"0"#.

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