In which of the following sets of species do the nitrogen atoms all have the same oxidation number?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Let's break down the problem by examining the oxidation state of nitrogen in each species listed in every option.
Option a: In N2O5, nitrogen is in the +5 oxidation state. In NO3−, nitrogen is also +5. In HNO3, nitrogen is +5 as well. However, in NO2, the nitrogen oxidation state is +4. Since not all nitrogens across these compounds share the same oxidation number, this option cannot be correct.
Option b: For N2O3, the two nitrogens each have an oxidation state of +3. In HNO2, nitrogen is +3 as H is +1 and the two oxygens contribute −4, balancing to +3. In NO2− (nitrite), nitrogen is also +3 because the −1 charge and two oxygens (−4) balance with N to give the overall charge. Yet NH3 has nitrogen in the −3 oxidation state (N + H3 contributes +3; to balance a neutral molecule, N must be −3). Since the nitrogen in NH3 is not +3, the set does not have all nitrogens with the same oxidation number.
Option c: NH2− has nitrogen at −3 (overall −1 with two H+ and one N contribution to balance). NH3 has nitrogen at −3 as well (N with three H is neutral, so N must be −3). In N2H4 (neutral hydrazine), with two nitrogens and four hydrogens, the average oxidation state per nitrogen is −2, not −3. Therefore, the nitrogens are not all at the same oxidation state in this set, making this option incorrect.
Option d: In HNO2, nitrogen is +3. In NF3, nitrogen is +3 (three F atoms pull electron density, balancing to +3 on N). In NO2−, nitrogen is +3 as well to satisfy the −1 overall charge with two oxygens (−4). In N2O3, each nitrogen is +3 on average (two nitrogens sharing a total of +6 oxidation state across the molecule). Since every nitrogen in these species has oxidation state +3, this option shows a consistent nitrogen oxidation state across all listed compounds.
Across all options, the crucial idea is to compute or infer the oxidation state of nitrogen in each chemical to check for consistency. The only option where every nitrogen sits at +3 is option d, as validated by applying standard oxidation-number rules to each compound. In each step, we consider how hydrogen, oxygen, and overall charge constrain the nitrogen oxidation state and look for uniformity across the set.

In which of the following sets of species do the nitrogen atoms all have the same oxidation number?

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