What is the oxidation number of nitrogen (N) in the compound HNO3?

A) + 1

B) + 5

C) + 6

D) + 7

Because there is no charge, the charge should add up to zero.

We know Oxygen always has an oxidation number of - 2, however in this case there are 3 oxygen atoms. We know there are three oxygen atoms because it has the subscript of 3.

So 3x-2 = - 6

We also know the charge of Hydrogen (H) is always + 1, there is only 1 hydrogen atom.

From here we can set up an equation to solve for Nitrogen, because we know it should add up to 0

So our equation is

H+O3+N=0

Next we plug in our values

1+-6+x=0

Then we solve for x by isolating it

So first subtract - 6 from both sides

The equation is now 1+x=6

Then we'll subtract 1 from each side, leaving the equation as

x=5

So the oxidation number of N is + 5