Question

Write the oxidation number of phosphorus in PH3
GPT-4o mini
In phosphine (PH₃), phosphorus has an oxidation number of -3. This is determined by considering that hydrogen generally has an oxidation number of +1. Since there are three hydrogen atoms, their total contribution to the oxidation state is +3. To balance this and make the overall charge of the molecule zero, phosphorus must have an oxidation number of -3. Therefore, the oxidation number of phosphorus in PH₃ is -3.