Oxidation states

subbhy

Is oxidation state essentially the charge of an ion/ the charge of the ion an atom can form?

Reply 1

charco

Study Forum Helper

Original post by subbhy

Is oxidation state essentially the charge of an ion/ the charge of the ion an atom can form?

It can be thought of as the apparent ionic charge on an atom in a species assuming that every bond is ionic.

Reply 2

lordaxil

Essentially yes, although it is important to realise that it does not represent the "real" charge on that atom, since bonds are never perfectly ionic and sometimes oxidation state can even be fractional. However, it's still a useful concept to rationalise the stoichiometry of simple ionic compounds.