Here's how we arrive at that:
* Oxygen's typical oxidation state: Oxygen usually has an oxidation state of -2.
* Overall charge of NO: NO is a neutral molecule, meaning it has a net charge of 0.
* Balancing the oxidation states: To achieve a net charge of 0, the oxidation state of nitrogen must be +2. This way, +2 (nitrogen) + (-2) (oxygen) = 0.
Therefore, the oxidation states in NO are +2 for nitrogen and -2 for oxygen.
