difference between two oxidation states of nitrogen in nh4no2
Answers
Answer:
As long as you know the rules for assigning oxidation numbers and that NH4NO2 (ammonium nitrite) is actually [NH4]+ [NO2]-, you can figure it out yourself. Oh wait, you might need some algebra.
To show what I mean, I’ll calculate the oxidation number of the nitrite nitrogen and leave that of the ammonium nitrogen as an exercise.
[NO2]- has overall charge of -1. Oxygen has an oxidation number of -2 (since this is a non-peroxide compound and there is no fluorine in the ion). The oxidation numbers have to add up to give the overall charge. Thus the algebraic equation is x + (-2)*2 = -1, which is equivalent to x - 4 = -1, which is solved by x = +3. So the oxidation number of the nitrite nitrogen is +3.
The same logic works for the ammonium nitrogen.