Question

calculate the oxidation number of sulphur in ch2f2​

Answer 1

Explanation:

would have an oxidation state of -1. Oxidation states determine the number of electrons that are removed from the element. Meaning that if the oxidation state of an element was III (3 in roman numerals) there would be three less electrons on the atom and it would have an overall charge of -3.

In this case, F will always have the oxidation state of -1. This is due to how it only requires one more electron to fill it’s outer electron shell, therefore it will always accept electrons and should never (in normal conditions) give away electrons.

Here C is treated as the donor for all of the electrons. C has 4 valence electrons. Each hydrogen atom would gain 1 electron and each F atom would gain 1 electron.