ABSTRACT
Carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur share an important common quality — each may assume multiple oxidation states. That is, each can exhibit multiple valences, behaving as an electron donor or as an electron acceptor. The ability to exhibit multiple oxidation states is, of course, a consequence of the electron configuration about the nucleus of an atom. The number of electrons resident in that configuration constitutes the oxidation state of the element. The number of shells surrounding the nucleus is determined by the number of inert gas configurations that the atom’s electron population will allow. A filled electron shell constitutes the configuration of an inert gas. The order of orbital entry is also the order of the resident electron energy. That is, each of the shells and their associated orbitals may also be regarded as energy levels, with electrons resident in the lowest levels having the lowest energies.
