Water is often instrumental in promoting disproportionation reactions however, it cannot itself disproportionate?
IS THIS TRUE OR FALSE?????
This statement is true. Water is often involved in promoting disproportionation reactions, but it cannot undergo disproportionation itself. Disproportionation is a type of redox reaction where the same element is simultaneously oxidized and reduced. In water, the oxygen is already in its lowest oxidation state (-2) and hydrogen is in its highest oxidation state (+1). Therefore, water molecules cannot undergo disproportionation because there is no change in oxidation states for any of the elements present.
To verify this statement, we can observe the chemical formula of water (H2O) and determine the oxidation states of hydrogen and oxygen. Oxygen has an oxidation state of -2, while hydrogen has an oxidation state of +1. Since there is no change in these oxidation states, water cannot undergo disproportionation.
In general, a good way to determine whether a substance can undergo disproportionation is to analyze the oxidation states of the elements involved. If the same element can have different oxidation states within the compound, then there is a possibility for it to undergo disproportionation.