Question

Isn't it IODINE ?
Which of these elements become cations with positive oxidation states?
A.Iodine
B.Potassium
C.Rubidium
D.Selenium

Answer 1

@ParthKohli hey ! do you have a idea of what it is ?

Answer 2

why do you think its iodine?

Answer 3

oxidation numbers are the same thing as valences correct ? @aaronq

Answer 4

valences? you mean valence electrons

well sort of, oxidation state refers to the number of electrons the element, typically, likes to gain or lose

Answer 5

so elements initially with 1 or 2 valence electrons will lose to achieve an energetically favoured configuration (an "octet") and those with 6 or 7 will gain e

Answer 6

so am i rifht for thinking iodine is correct ? cause there's several such elements, iron being the most common one. Others include copper, manganese, lead, and cobalt. Nitrogen, chlorine, bromine, iodine, sulfur, and phosphorus also qualify, in their oxyanions.

Answer 7

transition metals such as iron, copper, lead can have several oxidation states, they can be cations but they're a little trickier. You just said it yourself, elements on the right side of the periodic table (halogens , group 6) tend to make anions, (oxyanions are oxygen containing compound that are negatively charged but don't really fall into your category of studying oxidation states), while ones on the left make cations, normally.

Answer 8

all you gotta do, now, is categorize the elements given into their position on the periodic table

Answer 9

@aaronq the oxidation number for potassium is +1. It is that because it wants to lose an electron to have a full octet. If it loses electrons, it becomes a positive number!

Answer 10

yep! thats correct

Answer 11

but so des rubidium lol I'm confused now!

Answer 12

they both do, i guess whoever thought of this question did not take into account the multiple answers that could be right