oxidising and reducing agents

Question 1

what is an oxidising agent ?

Answer 1

a chemical which acts on another substance to oxidise is, being reduced during the process of the reaction.

Question 2

what is a reducing agent ?

Answer 2

a chemical that acts on another substance to reduce it, being oxidised in the process of the reaction.

Question 3

in the electrochemical series page, what does it show ?

Answer 3

reduction reactions

Question 4

to find the oxidation reactions in the data booklet what must you do?

Answer 4

reverse the reducing reactions on the electrochemical series page.

Question 5

a substance with a high electronegativity will be a strong…

Answer 5

oxidising agent as they tend to form ions by gaining electrons (bottom left electrochemical series)

Question 6

a substance with a low electronegativity will be a strong…

Answer 6

reducing agent as they tend to form ions by losing electrons (top right electrochemical series)

Question 7

what are oxidising agents used for ?

Answer 7

1.killing fungi and bacteria + inactivating viruses
2. breaking down coloured compounds (bleach for clothes and hair)

Question 8

a species HIGHER on the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the electrochemical series will…

Answer 8

donate electrons to a species lower on the left hand side.

Question 9

how to do a redox equation ?

Answer 9

1. write the two equations
2. equalise the number of electrons
3. remove excess substance by cancelling species which appear on both the right hand and the left hand side of the equations
4. add the equations

Question 10

how to do an ion- electron equation from scratch?

Answer 10

1. start with the given ions
2. balance the non oxygen symbols
3. balance the oxygens by adding water molecules to the side in need of oxygen
4. add hydrogen to the side needing hydrogen.
5. balance the charges by adding electrons to the more positive side. the charges on each side should be equal (but not necessarily 0)