{"id":263722,"date":"2025-07-21T08:36:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T08:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=263722"},"modified":"2025-07-21T08:36:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T08:36:18","slug":"the-oxidation-state-of-sulfur-in-sulfur-dioxide-so2-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/21\/the-oxidation-state-of-sulfur-in-sulfur-dioxide-so2-is\/","title":{"rendered":"The oxidation state of sulfur in sulfur dioxide SO2 is"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The oxidation state of sulfur in sulfur dioxide SO2 is<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The oxidation state of sulfur in sulfur dioxide (SO\u2082) is +4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explanation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To determine the oxidation state of sulfur in SO\u2082, we need to follow a systematic approach based on the rules for assigning oxidation states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Rule for oxygen<\/strong>: Oxygen typically has an oxidation state of -2 in most compounds (except in peroxides or when bonded to fluorine).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Sum of oxidation states<\/strong>: The sum of oxidation states in a neutral compound is 0.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    In the case of SO\u2082:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • The molecule is neutral, so the sum of the oxidation states must equal zero.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Oxygen, being bonded to sulfur, has an oxidation state of -2. Since there are two oxygen atoms, the total contribution of oxygen to the oxidation state is: 2\u00d7(\u22122)=\u221242 \\times (-2) = -42\u00d7(\u22122)=\u22124<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Let the oxidation state of sulfur be xxx. According to the rule, the sum of the oxidation states of all atoms in SO\u2082 must be zero: x+2(\u22122)=0x + 2(-2) = 0x+2(\u22122)=0 x\u22124=0x – 4 = 0x\u22124=0 x=+4x = +4x=+4<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Thus, the oxidation state of sulfur in SO\u2082 is +4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This means that sulfur has lost four electrons in forming the bonds with oxygen atoms in SO\u2082. Sulfur in this state is not as oxidized as it would be in sulfur trioxide (SO\u2083), where it has an oxidation state of +6. Therefore, SO\u2082 represents an intermediate oxidation state for sulfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The oxidation state of sulfur in sulfur dioxide SO2 is The Correct Answer and Explanation is: The oxidation state of sulfur in sulfur dioxide (SO\u2082) is +4. Explanation: To determine the oxidation state of sulfur in SO\u2082, we need to follow a systematic approach based on the rules for assigning oxidation states: In the case […]<\/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-263722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263722","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=263722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263722\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}