Calculation of Formal Oxidation States With A Lewis Structure
There are two common ways of computing the oxidation state of an atom in a compound. The first is the simple algebraic sum technique above, used in compounds that do not require a Lewis structure. The second is used for molecules when one has a Lewis structure.
It should be remembered that the oxidation state of an atom does not represent the "real" charge on that atom: This is particularly true of high oxidation states, where the ionization energy required to produce a multiply positive ion are far greater than the energies available in chemical reactions. The assignment of electrons between atoms in calculating an oxidation state is purely a formalism, but is a useful one for the understanding of many chemical reactions.
For more about issues with calculating atomic charges, see partial charge.
Read more about this topic: Oxidation State
Famous quotes containing the words calculation of, calculation, formal, states, lewis and/or structure:
““To my thinking” boomed the Professor, begging the question as usual, “the greatest triumph of the human mind was the calculation of Neptune from the observed vagaries of the orbit of Uranus.”
“And yours,” said the P.B.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“Common sense is the measure of the possible; it is composed of experience and prevision; it is calculation appled to life.”
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881)
“Then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“So the brother in black offers to these United States the source of courage that endures, and laughter.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“I feel most at home in the United States, not because it is intrinsically a more interesting country, but because no one really belongs there any more than I do. We are all there together in its wholly excellent vacuum.”
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)
“The syntactic component of a grammar must specify, for each sentence, a deep structure that determines its semantic interpretation and a surface structure that determines its phonetic interpretation.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)