{"id":203780,"date":"2025-03-20T15:45:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T15:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=203780"},"modified":"2025-03-20T15:45:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T15:45:18","slug":"assign-oxidation-numbers-to-each-atom-in-nitrous-acid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/20\/assign-oxidation-numbers-to-each-atom-in-nitrous-acid\/","title":{"rendered":"Assign oxidation numbers to each atom in nitrous acid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Assign oxidation numbers to each atom in nitrous acid. please explain
A) H = +1, N = +5, O = -1
B) H = +1, N = +5, O = -2
C) H = +1, N = +3, O = -1
D) H = +1, N = +3, O = 0
E) H = +1, N = +3, O = -2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer and explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E) H = +1, N = +3, O = -2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To determine the oxidation numbers of each atom in nitrous acid (HNO\u2082<\/strong>), we follow these steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Assign known oxidation numbers<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Hydrogen (H)<\/strong> generally has an oxidation number of +1<\/strong> when bonded to nonmetals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Oxygen (O)<\/strong> typically has an oxidation number of -2<\/strong>, except in peroxides or when bonded to fluorine.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Nitrogen (N)<\/strong> will have an unknown oxidation number (x<\/strong>) in this case.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Step 2: Write the equation for the sum of oxidation numbers<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Since the molecule HNO\u2082<\/strong> is neutral (has no overall charge), the sum of oxidation numbers of all atoms must equal 0<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    [
    \\text{Oxidation Number of H} + \\text{Oxidation Number of N} + 2 \\times \\text{Oxidation Number of O} = 0
    ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Substituting the known values:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    [
    (+1) + (x) + 2(-2) = 0
    ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Step 3: Solve for x (oxidation number of nitrogen)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    [
    1 + x – 4 = 0
    ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    [
    x – 3 = 0
    ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    [
    x = +3
    ]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Thus, the oxidation numbers in HNO\u2082<\/strong> are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • H = +1<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • N = +3<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • O = -2<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Why the other choices are incorrect?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • A and B:<\/strong> N is not +5<\/strong> because that oxidation state corresponds to nitric acid (HNO\u2083<\/strong>), not nitrous acid.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • C:<\/strong> Oxygen is not -1<\/strong> (this occurs in peroxides, such as H\u2082O\u2082).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • D:<\/strong> Oxygen cannot have an oxidation number of 0<\/strong> in a compound.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Thus, the correct choice is E) H = +1, N = +3, O = -2<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Assign oxidation numbers to each atom in nitrous acid. please explainA) H = +1, N = +5, O = -1B) H = +1, N = +5, O = -2C) H = +1, N = +3, O = -1D) H = +1, N = +3, O = 0E) H = +1, N = +3, O = […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203780\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}