What is meant by fractional oxidation state? [closed]








**Closed**. This question needs [details or clarity](/help/closed-questions). It is not currently accepting answers.
 
 






---








**Want to improve this question?** Add details and clarify the problem by [editing this post](/posts/69538/edit).




Closed 6 years ago.








[Improve this question](/posts/69538/edit) 



What is the real concept behind oxidation state?




Nothing too much, really. When you have a compound like sodium tetrathionate $\ce{Na\_2S\_4O\_6}$, if you calculate the oxidation state of sulfur, you get $\frac{5}{2}$. This means that the AVERAGE oxigation state of sulfur is $\frac{5}{2}$. In fact, the sulfurs in the compound are not equal, you have two of them with an oxidation state of $+5$, and two of them with $0$. But when you balance redox equations, you do not really care about this, and you can use the average value of $2.5$ to find the coefficients.


 5