Question

The oxidation state of an element in a particular compound can be defined as

• A. the charge acquired by its atom on the basis of electronegative consideration from other atoms in the molecule
• B. the residual charge acquired by its atom after removing all electronegative atoms from the molecule
• C. the valency of the most electronegative atom present in the molecule
• D. total number of electrons accepted by an atom to form a molecule.

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

The oxidation state of an element in a particular compound can be defined as the charge acquired by its atom on the basis of electronegative consideration from other atoms in the molecule.
In other words, it represents the number of electrons gained or lost by the element or ion in the reaction that formed the compound. It is expressed as a positive or negative number which represents the ionic charge. For example, in sodium chloride, the oxidation states of sodium and chlorine are $+1$ and $-1$ respectively.