What is an oxidation number?
According to The American Heritage Dictionary of Science, an oxidation number is defined as follows: “The oxidation number, although arbitrary, is a convenient notation for keeping track of the number of electrons involved in a chemical reaction” (Barnhart, Robert, K, 1986, p462). Oxidation numbers are a tool used by chemists to keep track of the electrons transferred in redox reactions. The species that has an increase in oxidation number is the substance oxidized, and the species that has a decrease in oxidation number is the species reduced.
