hey, I don’t understand this one, at first it says oxidation number is +1 which sounded like it is Alkali metal from the first group which make sense because it makes the formula Xcl .
how come IODINE is the answer ??
I thought it was E but answer is c btw
can some one explain the reason why please?
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Hi!
the oxidation state of +1 is for the compound xCL, not x
so we need x - 1 = 0 so x = +1 oxydation number, meaning it has to be a halogen
Iodine is a grey solid and fluorine is a gas before being heated
so the answer is iodine
They really did the best they could to write the question in the most confusing way possible…
Hope this helps!
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Ohh i didn’t pay attention to that part, thank you
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Yes, my first thought was that too! This question is quite confusing. Nevertheless, if we double check, it says “(…) to form a POLAR molecule”, so it must refers to a covalent compound. Therefore, we could delete all the options with metals.
And as Juliette said, X is a solid, so F can not be the answer (the only gases in the periodic table are H, NOF, Cl and the noble gases)
I guess, apart of that, we just need to recall the individual properties of Halogens.
Hope my reasoning helps! 
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thank you for your reply, but now that I look at it again one thing is still controversial
see, based on my knowledge, when we say POLAR molecules it has regions of positive and negative charge. additionally, in the question it is mentioned "IN THIS COMPOUND,ELEMENT X HAS AN OXIDATION STATE OF +1 " so +1 is not the compounds oxidation state
I am thoroughly confused haha
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thank you for your explanation , still i can’t understand why would you delete metals based on being polar , can’t polar molecules be between metals and nonmetals ?
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Hey Yasy,
when referring to a polar molecule, we always mean covalent compounds - metals and nonmetals usually form ionic compounds. Ionic compounds cannot be polar, because the cation loses its electrons and anion gains those electrons. Thus, these two ions are not literally bonded to each other (as covalent compounds which share electrons), but instead they stay next to each other due to an intramolecular force called electrostatic force that holds the cation next to anion (due to + and - charge).
Hope this helps!
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thank you for the clarification
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Yes, you read my mind, that’s what I was refering to!
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Yeah, If you look deeply into that sentence, you could infer that it has more than one oxidation states, so from this point of view, we could delete Fluor and Lithium. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend you to work first with clearer hints than this one, because we could waste some precious time overthinking small details.
Send u positive vibes!
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Iodine shows oxidation states of + 1 and + 3 in the compounds ICl and ICl3.