Final answer:
Iodine has the lowest oxidation state in diatomic iodine (I2), where the oxidation state is 0, compared to +1 in iodine monoxide (I2O).
Step-by-step explanation:
A student asked: In which of the following does iodine have the lowest oxidation state? C) I2O E) I2. To answer this, we need to look at the oxidation states of iodine in each compound. In the compound I2O, each iodine atom has an oxidation state of +1 (since oxygen has an oxidation state of -2 and the total oxidation state of the compound must balance to zero). On the other hand, in the diatomic molecule I2, each iodine atom has an oxidation state of 0 since they are not bonded to any other type of element and thus share the electrons equally.
Therefore, iodine has the lowest oxidation state in I2, as its oxidation state here is 0, which is lower than +1 in I2O. As the least reactive halogen, iodine is the weakest oxidizing agent, and as the diatomic molecule I2, it represents iodine in its elemental form with the oxidation state of 0, featuring prominently in various chemical reactions such as titrations where it acts as a selective titrant.