AAMC 5 Question #24

[kabtq9s]

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Could someone please explain to me in a simpler way why NO is a better answer than H ?

http://mysowar.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/24.jpg

Thanks in advance

 

[flodhi1]

Could someone please explain to me in a simpler way why NO is a better answer than H ?

http://mysowar.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/24.jpg

Thanks in advance

On that exam I picked H2 and honestly i'm still trying to figure this BS out.

 

[gunj122]

since copper will in most cases lose electrons, some thing has to gain electrons.

all you have to ask yourself is what's a better electron pair acceptor, or better yet which atom in HNO3 is the most electronegative?

You can rule out Oxygen because that would imply the oxidation state would go from -2 to 0, an oxidation, resulting in a reduction for copper (which is very unnatural). When it comes down to Hydrogen and Nitrogen, Nitrogen is much more electronegative which you could deduce from the periodic table trends.

 

[flodhi1]

since copper will in most cases lose electrons, some thing has to gain electrons.

all you have to ask yourself is what's a better electron pair acceptor, or better yet which atom in HNO3 is the most electronegative?

You can rule out Oxygen because that would imply the oxidation state would go from -2 to 0, an oxidation, resulting in a reduction for copper (which is very unnatural). When it comes down to Hydrogen and Nitrogen, Nitrogen is much more electronegative which you could deduce from the periodic table trends.

That's a lot of thinking for one question don't you think?

 

[gunj122]

i agree lol but i guess this is one of those questions that separates the 36+ and the rest. i'll be honest and tell you i got this one wrong. we can only learn from practice.