Question

Oxygen is the most abundant element in the Earth’s crust.

(a) Give the formulae of the oxides formed by reacting oxygen with Ca, N, S and Zn.

(b) Differentiate between basic and acidic oxides.

(c) Classify the types of oxides represented by your answers in (a).

Answer 1

Oxides are chemical compounds with one or more oxygen atoms combined with another element. Oxides are thus binary compounds of Oxygen with other elements.

a) Reaction of the following elements yields;

$CaO, NO_2, SO_2 and ZnO$

b) An acidic oxide is an oxide which combines with water to yield an acid. A basic oxide on the other hand reacts with water to yield a base.

c) Acidic oxides are $SO_2, CO_2, and NO_2$

$CaO$ is the only basic oxide.

$ZnO$ is amphoteric in nature.