Question

How do you prepare:

Actinoid elements show wide range of oxidation states.

Account for the following:

Actinoid elements show wide range of oxidation states.

Answer 1

Actinides exhibit larger oxidation states because of the very small energy gap between 5f, 6d and 7s sub-shells. The energies are calculated on the basis of the (n + l) rule. The (n + l) values of the three orbitals are:

5f = 5 + 3 = 8
6d = 6 + 2 = 8
7s = 7 + 0 = 7

Since all the values are almost the same, therefore all orbitals can be involved in bonding resulting in a larger oxidation number for actinoids.