Waiting for answer This question has not been answered yet. You can hire a professional tutor to get the answer.
What are the oxidation numbers of the elements in the nitrite ion?
The nitrite ion is ##NO_2^(-1)##
To determine the oxidation value of each element there are a few basic rules that we can use a a starting point.
- by themselves are 0
- Alkai Metals (Na, K, …) are +1 -Alkaline Earth Metals (Mg Ca…) are +2
- Oxygen is always -2
Since the oxygen in the nitrite ion is always -2 and there are 2 oxygen atoms in this polyatomic ion the charge for the oxygen is -4
Since the entire polyatomic nitrite ion has an overall ionic charge of -1 the nitrogen ion in the molecule must have a charge of +3.
Combining the -4 of the oxygen and the +3 of the nitrogen we achieve the -1 charge of the nitrite ion.
Therefore the oxidation state of nitrogen in a nitrite polyatomic molecule is ##-3##.
I hope this was helpful. SMARTERTEACHER
