If the product is SO 4 2- and the reactant isSO 3 2- , calculate the change in t
ID: 682536 • Letter: I
Question
If the product is SO42- and the reactant isSO32-, calculate the change in the oxidationstate of sulfur (oxidation state of sulfur in product minus theoxidation state of sulfur in the reactant). Enter the sign andmagnitude of the result, and separated by a comma, also enter O orR to indicate whether sulfur is oxidized (O) or reduced (R).Example: -2,O.Explanation / Answer
Okay, so the reaction is SO32---->SO42-We know the oxidation number foroxygen is -2 and there's a -2 charge, that means that you havethree oxygen atoms totaling -6. Since the charge is -2, sulfur mustbe +4. As a product there are 4 oxygen atoms totaling -8, the totalcharge is -2, meaning that Sulfur must be +6. Therefore we can saythat sulfur is being oxidized (losing electrons) because it goesfrom +4 to +6. Hope this helps!