Question

What is the oxidation number of Chlorine in NaClO4?

Answer 1

-1

+7

-5

+1

Isn't it +7?

Answer 2

@chmvijay hi again

Answer 3

Okay

Answer 4

1. the oxidation state of a free element (uncombined element) is zero
2. for a simple (monatomic) ion, the oxidation state is equal to the net charge on the ion
3. hydrogen has an oxidation state of 1 and oxygen has an oxidation state of −2 when they are present in most compounds. (Exceptions to this are that hydrogen has an oxidation state of −1 in hydrides of active metals, e.g. LiH, and oxygen has an oxidation state of −1 in peroxides, e.g. H2O2
4. the algebraic sum of oxidation states of all atoms in a neutral molecule must be zero, while in ions the algebraic sum of the oxidation states of the constituent atoms must be equal to the charge on the ion.

Answer 5

These rules better describe how to determine oxidation state of an element than I did

Answer 6

so essentially when you are assigning oxidation state in inorganic compounds think about electronegativity.

oxygen has a charge of -2 (this makes sense because oxygen is very electrophilic it wants to fullfill the octet rule so it can be more like the noble gas it is closest to, so it takes up 2 more electrons than protons)

Answer 7

Chlorine is only slightly less electronegative than oxygen (see trends in the periodic table) so we can assume that it is going to have a positive oxidative state, also note that this compound has a charge of -1 because sodium forms an ionic bond with ClO4, so essentially it gives an electron to the molecule and leaves as Na+.

so,

-2*4 + x = -1

Answer 8

I hope you follow

Answer 9

Kind of

Answer 10

It has to do with electron sharing

Answer 11

Chemistry is a tricky subject for me :p

Answer 12

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Analytical_Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Oxidation_States_(Oxidation_Numbers)

Answer 13

Think of electron sharing as a game of tug of war.

Answer 14

because oxidative state is just about who has electrons and who is giving them up sort of kind of

Answer 15

so the oxidative state on atoms that are all the same is going to be zero because they have the same number of protons and thus do not have an advantage over one another in terms of sequestering electrons

Answer 16

With oxygen and chlroine, Oxygen is way better at pulling electrons away because it doesnt have as much other electrons around its nucleus as chlorine, chlorine has more electrons because it has more protons, these electrons cause an effect called shielding which basically makes it so the electrons in the outer shell (valence shell) less held on by the protons in the nucleus.

Answer 17

thus oxygen wins the battle and gets two of chlorines electrons spend more time around oxygen, thus giving oxygen a -2 charge because it has 6 protons (remember protons have a charge of +1)

Answer 18

This stuff isnt that hard you just need to learn the trends in the periodic table and a few simple concepts, it may seem kind of abstract but there is logic to it

Answer 19

Any questions before I pass out?

Answer 20

Um no questions except that +7 is wrong and the answer is -1? Thanks for all the extra info also, easier to comprehend when someone else is explaining it instead of just reading it from text book type writing

Answer 21

wait what?

Answer 22

"Um no questions except that +7 is wrong and the answer is -1?" in regards to this

Answer 23

Well the text book can do a better job of explaining this stuff you just have to go slow and try to understand what it means

Answer 24

try to understand the formula I wrote,

-2*4 + x = -1

I didnt tell you what x is but you should be able to guess

Answer 25

O oops

Answer 26

I was reading it as the answer was -1, didn't even pay attestation to the x. So I was actually right though :D

Answer 27

And remember these inorganic molecules are covalent bonds, they share electrons, ionic bonds is simply when one atom gives electrons to another

Answer 28

attention*

Answer 29

yes you were

Answer 30

Now I hope you know why you are right

Answer 31

I had looked at some chem wiki thing that was explaining it, that't why i thought it was +7 at the start

Answer 32

You might want to read this,

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Inorganic_Chemistry/Descriptive_Chemistry/Periodic_Trends_of_Elemental_Properties/Periodic_Trends

Or if you kind of understand whats going on check this out,

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Periodic_trends.svg

Answer 33

The periodic table is pretty awesome and if you have a good understanding of it, it can make chemistry a lot easier

Answer 34

In regards to theory

Answer 35

Yea I looked at a UC Davis chem wiki, they explain it good also. As far as the periodic table, I'm not even near being an expert but I'm okay with it

Answer 36

Well learn the trends and you will be fine anyways take care feel free to message me if you have any further problems

Answer 37

If you have the time now, I still have one problem I still need to do

Answer 38

Make a new question and if I can answer it quickly I will otherwise I need sleep

Answer 39

Ok