Please help me with the following question:

Consider the following ion; XF2-2
What is the oxidation number assigned to element “X”? Show your work

I'm having trouble writing the steps.

Just follow the rules.

F is -1; there are two of them to make -2. The XF2^2- ion must be left with a charge of -2.
X + 2F = -2
X + 2(-1) = -2
X -2 = -2
X = -2+2 = 0
X must have an oxidation state of zero.

no response

To determine the oxidation number assigned to element "X" in the ion XF2-2, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Understand the concept:
Oxidation number is the charge that an atom would have if the compound were purely ionic. It is used to describe the extent of electron transfer between elements in a compound.

Step 2: Identify the known oxidation numbers:
In this case, the oxidation number of fluoride (F) is always -1. So, for XF2-2, the total charge of the two fluoride ions is -2.

Step 3: Assign the oxidation number to element "X":
To determine the oxidation number of element "X" in XF2-2, you need to calculate the overall charge balance of the compound.

Since the total charge contributed by the two fluoride ions is -2, and the overall charge of the compound is -2, the oxidation number of element "X" can be calculated by subtracting the total charge of the fluoride ions from the overall charge of the compound.

So, -2 (total charge of fluoride ions) - (-2) (overall charge of the compound) = 0

Therefore, the oxidation number of element "X" in the ion XF2-2 is 0.

In conclusion, the oxidation number assigned to element "X" is 0 based on the charge balance of the ion XF2-2.

To determine the oxidation number of element X in the ion XF2-2, you need to follow these steps:

Step 1: Identify the overall charge of the ion. In this case, the ion XF2-2 has a charge of -2.

Step 2: Determine the oxidation number of the other element in the ion. In this case, the other element is fluorine (F), and its oxidation number is -1 because it typically has a charge of -1 in compounds.

Step 3: Use the charge of the ion and the oxidation number of the other element to calculate the oxidation number of element X. Remember that the sum of the oxidation numbers in an ion must equal the overall charge of the ion.

Since the overall charge of the ion XF2-2 is -2, and each fluorine atom has an oxidation number of -1, the equation can be written as:

2(-1) + X = -2

Simplifying the equation:

-2 + X = -2

Step 4: Solve for X by isolating it on one side of the equation:

X = -2 + 2

X = 0

Therefore, the oxidation number assigned to element X is 0.

To summarize, the oxidation number of element X in the ion XF2-2 is 0. The steps involved identifying the overall charge of the ion, determining the oxidation number of the other element (fluorine), and then using these values to calculate the oxidation number of element X.