Nitrogen forms how many oxides

Explanation

To determine how many oxides nitrogen can form, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Identify the Oxidation States of Nitrogen
Nitrogen can exhibit several oxidation states. The common positive oxidation states of nitrogen are:
- +1
- +2
- +3
- +4
- +5

### Step 2: List the Corresponding Oxides
For each oxidation state, nitrogen forms a corresponding oxide:
1. **+1 oxidation state**: Nitrous oxide (N₂O) - also known as laughing gas.
2. **+2 oxidation state**: Nitric oxide (NO).
3. **+3 oxidation state**: Dinitrogen trioxide (N₂O₃).
4. **+4 oxidation state**: Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂).
5. **+5 oxidation state**: Dinitrogen pentoxide (N₂O₅).

### Step 3: Count the Number of Oxides
From the list above, we can see that nitrogen forms a total of five oxides corresponding to its five positive oxidation states.

### Conclusion
Therefore, nitrogen forms **five types of oxides**.

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