Question

What is the oxidation state of chlorine in bleaching powder?

Answer 1

Oxidation number:

• It represents the number of electrons lost or gained by the atoms of an element in a compound.
• It is usually written with the sign $(+)$ and $(-)$ first and then the magnitude.

Bleaching powder:

• The chemical formula of bleaching powder is ${\mathrm{CaOCl}}_2$.
• In the formula of bleaching powder, both chlorine atoms are linked by two different atoms due to this both chlorine have different oxidation states.
• The chemical formula of bleaching powder is as follows:

$$\begin{gathered} \underset{|}{\mathrm{Ca}}-\mathrm{Cl} \\ \mathrm{OCl} \end{gathered}$$

In this formula, one chlorine atom is linked with a calcium atom with oxidation number $(-1)$ and another chlorine atom is linked with an oxygen atom with oxidation state $(+1)$.

Hence, the oxidation states of the two chlorine atoms in bleaching powder is $(-1)$ and $(+1)$.