How do you determine the oxidizing or reducing agent, Chemistry

Assignment Help:

Q. How do you determine the oxidizing or reducing agent?

Ans.

A substance that oxidizes another substance is called an oxidizing agent. One that reduces another substance is called a reducing agent.

In a redox reaction, the oxidizing agent gains electrons and is an electron acceptor. The oxidizing agent is therefore reduced in the process.

On the other hand, the reducing agent loses electrons and is an electron donor. The reducing agent is therefore oxidized in the process.

For example, 2Cu + O2 -> 2CuO can be written in ionic form as:

2Cu + O2 -> 2Cu2+ + 2O2-

The two half-reactions for this redox reaction are:

Cu -> Cu2+ + 2e- (oxidation)
O2 + 2e- -> 2O2- (reduction)

Copper is the reducing agent because it is donating electrons to the oxygen. It can be said that the copper is reducing the oxygen by making the oxygen negative. Notice that the copper is itself oxidized in the process.

Oxygen is the oxidizing agent because it is accepting electrons. Notice that the oxygen is itself reduced in the process.


Related Discussions:- How do you determine the oxidizing or reducing agent

Explain tie-line rule, Explain tie-line rule Tie-line rule is applied t...

Explain tie-line rule Tie-line rule is applied to determine the compositions of two co-existing phases in a binary phase diagram. Tie line is a horizontal line drawn at the tem

Quantum chemistry, how to solve radial equation using the laguerre polynomi...

how to solve radial equation using the laguerre polynomial

Entropy and second and third law of thermodynamics, ENTROPY Entropy is ...

ENTROPY Entropy is a thermodynamic property of a system. It is denoted as S and like as the enthalpy and internal energy, it is a state function. In thermodynamic expression, e

Calculate the activity coefficient, Calculate the activity co-efficient? ...

Calculate the activity co-efficient? The solubility of gaseous O 2 at a partial pressure of 1.01 bar and a temperature of 310.2K, ex- pressed as a concentration, is 1.07 *10 -

The frequency corresponding to transition & hydrogen atom, The frequency co...

The frequency corresponding to transition n= 2   to n =1   in hydrogen atom is: (1) 15.66 x 10 10 Hz                           (2)  24.66 x 10 14 Hz          (3) 30.5

Non-benzenoid aromatics and heterocyclic compounds, Non-benzenoid aromatics...

Non-benzenoid aromatics and Heterocyclic compounds There are aromatic compounds that have structural units which are not same from benzenoid type and are termed as Non-benzeno

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd