Here's why:
* HCl is a covalent compound. Covalent compounds share electrons rather than fully transferring them, making it difficult to assign a clear oxidation number.
* We can discuss the oxidation states of the individual atoms:
* Hydrogen (H) typically has an oxidation state of +1.
* Chlorine (Cl) typically has an oxidation state of -1.
Therefore, when discussing HCl, we talk about the oxidation states of hydrogen and chlorine individually, rather than assigning an oxidation number to the entire molecule.
