Use your knowledge of group properties to predict the chemical formula for selenic acid. A) HSeO₂ B) H₂SeO₃ C) H₂SeO₄ D) H₃SeO₃ E) H₃SeO₄

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Selenic acid is composed of hydrogen, selenium, oxygen and is an acid, so it must contain one or more H+ ions. The formula must also balance the charges of the ions. The oxidation number of selenium in selenic acid is +6. One possible way to balance the charges and keep the oxidation states consistent is to have two H+ ions, one SeO4^2- ion, and one H2O molecule. This gives us the formula H2SeO4.

Use Your Knowledge of Group Properties to Predict the Chemical