What would be the molecule FeO, using the Roman Numeral method?

1 Answer
anor277
Nov 4, 2016

"Ferrous oxide" = "Iron(II) oxide"

Explanation:

We specify the oxidation state of the metal with Roman numerals. Oxygen generally has an oxidation state of -II, and it does here. The sum of the oxidation numbers equals the charge on the species, and thus iron has an oxidation number of +II, i.e. "ferrous oxide".

On the other hand, "ferric oxide" is Fe_2O_3, or "Iron(III) oxide". The "ous/ic" names are now a bit old-fashioned, but you will still see it the literature.

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