00:01
So in this problem, we are looking for the oxidation state of iron in this compound.
00:07
So the best way is to start off with the easiest and most simple charges that we know, and one of those is sodium.
00:17
Sodium has a positive one charge, and we know that because it's found in the leftmost, so the first column of the periodic table.
00:27
So if sodium has a plus one charge, and there are four sodiums, then we know that this portion is an overall plus four charge.
00:39
Next is cyanide, which is the carbon and the nitrogen.
00:42
That is a polyatomic ion, and it is just known that it has a negative one charge.
00:48
So as a cn minus, and there's six of those, we know that this is a negative six charge.
00:57
The overall charge of the entire compound is zero.
01:03
So that means that whatever cations we have plus the iron, question mark, plus negative six has to equal zero so that we don't have a charged compound...