Question

Why do actinoids show a wide range of oxidation states? Write one similarity between the chemistry of lanthanoids and actinoids.

Answer 1

1) Actinides show a wide range of oxidation states from $+3$ to $+6$.

2) This is due to very small energy gap b/w $5f,6d$ and $7s$ subshells.

3) The principal O.S are $+3$ and $+4$, ($+3$ oxidation state is the most stable).

$\Rightarrow$ Both lanthanides and actinides has $+3$ oxidation state as the most stable one.