What are the oxidation number of the underlined elements in each of the following and how do you rationalise your results?
Fe3O4
On taking the O.N. of O as -2,the O.N. of fe is found to be + 2
. However, O.N. cannot be fractional. Here, one of the three Fe atoms exhibits the O.N. of + 2and the other two Fe atoms exhibit the O.N. o + 3.
i.e. in the form of FeO and Fe2O3.
3