Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Elements: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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:::What is the meaning of Rubidium's oxidation state being a strongly basic oxide? Why was +1 bold?

:::(maybe if you agree that there is a problem we need to think of smaller steps of improvement). [[User:Johnjbarton|Johnjbarton]] ([[User talk:Johnjbarton|talk]]) 02:59, 4 October 2024 (UTC)

::::The bold means that Rb +1 is a major state, and the lack of bold means that Rb −1 isn't. The "strongly basic oxide" refers to Rb(I) oxide i.e. Rb₂O being strongly basic. I do agree this is less clear for Fe, where I would say FeO is better called basic than amphoteric, and it's not clear which oxidation state the text is describing. Maybe the parenthesis should be put next to the oxidation state it's relevant to.

::::Probably it would be good to state explicitly that bold oxidation states mean the main ones. Though understandings may differ: I would call Mn(VII) an important oxidation state, but it's too oxidising to find in minerals. This is likely similar to why we seem to disagree for Xe(VI): to me, talking about Xe chemistry in any way already presupposes that we are narrowing the scope to what happens when you force it into compounds, because saying "it doesn't do anything" (as writing only 0 as a main oxidation state would imply) seems a bit too boring to be the plausible meaning in context. [[User:Double sharp|Double sharp]] ([[User talk:Double sharp|talk]]) 03:42, 4 October 2024 (UTC)