Which of the following oxidation states are the most characteristic for lead and tin respectively:
Lead and tin are in the fourth group of the periodic table,so we can expect an oxidation state of +4 for both of them.But due to the reluctance of participation of electrons in the outermost s orbital in bonding i.e., inert pair effect which increases down the group.So, the oxidation states of lead and tin are +2 and +4 respectively which is also evident from their respective chemical reactions.