Consider the following oxides of manganese: MnO , Mn ₂ O ₃, MnO ₂ , and Mn ₂ O ₇ . Identify the acid-base nature of the oxide with the highest oxidation state of manganese, and calculate the spin-only magnetic moment (in BM) of the manganese ion in the most basic oxide among these.

Step-by-step solution

The oxidation states of manganese in the given oxides are: MnO (+2), Mn ₂ O ₃ (+3), MnO ₂ (+4), and Mn ₂ O ₇ (+7). As the oxidation state of a transition metal increases, the acidic character of its oxide increases. Therefore, the oxide with the highest oxidation state, Mn ₂ O ₇ , is acidic in nature. The most basic oxide is the one with the lowest oxidation state, which is MnO (+2). In MnO , the manganese ion is Mn ²⁺ . The electronic configuration of Mn ²⁺ is [ Ar ] 3 d ^5 . The number of unpaired electrons ( n )