Question

What is the oxidation state of chromium in Cr (2+)?

Answer 1

Formal oxidation state indicates the number of electrons that have been added to or removed from an atom, so `Cr^(2+)` has a formal oxidation state of +2.

Formal oxidation states are a useful concept that helps us to understand electronic structure and bonding in many different types of compounds. It is rarely the case that electron transfer is complete, however. For example, in the ionic compound `LiF`, the formal oxidation state of `Li` is +1 and `F` is -1, but the actual electron transfer between the two atoms is only a partial charge, not a complete one.