Final answer:
The oxidation states in sulfuric acid are 1) Sulfur (+6), Oxygen (-2), Hydrogen (+1). This is because oxygen typically has an oxidation state of -2 and hydrogen +1, so sulfur must be +6 to balance the overall charge of the molecule.
Step-by-step explanation:
The oxidation states of the constituent elements in sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) can be determined using the rules for assigning oxidation numbers.
First, we know that hydrogen generally has an oxidation state of +1, and oxygen has a typical oxidation state of -2. The molecule has two hydrogen atoms, each contributing +1, for a total of +2 from hydrogen. The molecule has four oxygen atoms, each contributing -2, for a total of -8 from oxygen.
Since the charge of a molecule is neutral, the oxidation state of sulfur must offset the contributions of hydrogen and oxygen, which means sulfur must have an oxidation state of +6 to balance the -8 from oxygen and +2 from hydrogen.
This gives us a total of +6 + (-8) + (+2) = 0, which is consistent with the fact that sulfuric acid is a neutral molecule.