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What Are Redox Reactions?: Chemical Reaction

A redox reaction is a reaction where electrons are transferred between reactants. It can be broken down into two half-reactions: oxidation, where a reactant loses electrons, and reduction, where a reactant gains electrons. There are several types of redox reactions including decomposition, combination, displacement, and disproportionation reactions. Redox reactions have many important applications, including in batteries, photosynthesis, metal extraction from ores, and corrosion prevention.

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280 views8 pages

What Are Redox Reactions?: Chemical Reaction

A redox reaction is a reaction where electrons are transferred between reactants. It can be broken down into two half-reactions: oxidation, where a reactant loses electrons, and reduction, where a reactant gains electrons. There are several types of redox reactions including decomposition, combination, displacement, and disproportionation reactions. Redox reactions have many important applications, including in batteries, photosynthesis, metal extraction from ores, and corrosion prevention.

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What are Redox Reactions?

A redox reaction can be defined as a chemical reaction in which electrons are transferred between
two reactants participating in it. This transfer of electrons can be identified by observing the changes
in the oxidation states of the reacting species.

The loss of electrons and the corresponding increase in the oxidation state of a given reactant is
called oxidation. The gain of electrons and the corresponding decrease in the oxidation state of a
reactant is called reduction.
Electron-accepting species which tend to undergo a reduction in redox reactions are called oxidizing
agents. An electron-donating species which tends to hand over electrons can be referred to as
a reducing agent. These species tend to undergo oxidation. It can be noted that any redox reaction
can be broken down into two half-reactions, namely the oxidation half-reaction and the reduction
half-reaction.

Types of Redox Reactions


The different types of redox reactions are:

 Decomposition Reaction
 Combination Reaction
 Displacement Reaction
 Disproportionation Reactions

Decomposition Reaction
This kind of reaction involves the breakdown of a compound into different compounds. Examples of
these types of reactions are:
 2NaH → 2Na + H2
 Na2CO3 → Na2O + CO2
All the above reactions result in the breakdown of smaller chemical compounds in the form of AB →
A+B
But, there is a special case that confirms that all the decomposition reactions are not redox
reactions.
For example CaCO3 → CaO + CO2
Also Read: Types of Reactions

Combination Reaction
These reactions are the opposite of decomposition reaction and hence involve the combination of
two compounds to form a single compound in the form of A + B → AB. For example:

 H2 + Cl2 → 2HClC+O2→CO2


 4Fe+ 3O2→2Fe2O3

Displacement Reaction
In this kind of reaction, an atom or an ion in a compound is replaced by an atom or an ion of another
element. It can be represented in the form of X + YZ → XZ + Y. Further displacement reaction can
be categorized into

 Metal displacement Reaction


 Non-metal displacement Reaction

Metal Displacement
In this type of reaction, a metal present in the compound is displaced by another metal. These types
of reactions find their application in metallurgical processes where pure metals are obtained from
their ores.
For example CuSO4+Zn→Cu+ZnSO4

Non-Metal Displacement
In this type of reaction, we can find a hydrogen displacement and sometimes rarely occurring
reactions involving oxygen displacement.

Disproportionation Reactions
The reactions in which a single reactant is oxidized and reduced is known as Disproportionation
reactions.
For example: P4 + 3NaOH + 3H2O → 3NaH2PO2 + PH3

Examples of Redox Reactions


A few examples of redox reactions, along with their oxidation and reduction half-reactions are
provided in this subsection.
Example 2: Reaction Between Zinc and Copper
This is a type of metal displacement reaction in which copper metal is obtained when zinc displaces
the Cu2+ion in the copper sulfate solution as shown in the reaction below.
Zn (s) + CuSO4 (aq) → ZnSO4 (aq) + Cu (s)
The oxidation half-reaction can be written as: Zn → Zn2+ + 2e–
The reduction half-reaction can be written as: Cu2+ + 2e– → Cu

Thus, copper is displaced from the copper sulfate solution by zinc in a redox reaction.

Example 3: Reaction between Iron and Hydrogen Peroxide


Fe2+ is oxidized to Fe3+ by hydrogen peroxide when an acid is present. This reaction is provided
below.
2Fe2+ + H2O2 + 2H+ → 2Fe3+ + 2H2O
Oxidation half-reaction: Fe2+ → Fe3+ + e–
Reduction half-reaction: H2O2 + 2e– → 2 OH–
Thus, the hydroxide ion formed from the reduction of hydrogen peroxide combines with the proton
donated by the acidic medium to form water..

What is Oxidation Reaction?


Oxidation may be defined as loss of electrons from a substance, the other definition of oxidation
reactions states that the addition of oxygen or the more electronegative element or removal of
hydrogen or the more electropositive element from a substance is called an oxidation reaction.
Following are some examples of oxidation reactions:
2S(s) + O2 (g) → SO2 (g) CH4 (g) + 2O2 (g) → CO2 (g) + 2H2O (l)

What is Reduction Reaction?


Like oxidation reactions, reduction reactions are defined as the gain of electrons. Any substance that
gains electron during a chemical reaction gets reduced.
In other forms, the reduction reaction is stated as the addition of hydrogen or more
electropositive element or removal of a more electronegative element or oxygen from a substance.
Below are some examples of reduction reactions:

 2CH2CH2 (g) + H2 (g) → CH3CH3 (g)


 2FeCl3 (aq) + H2 (g) → 2FeCl2 (aq) + 2HCl (aq)

Oxidizing and Reducing Agents


 The substance (atom, ion, and molecule) that gains electrons and is thereby reduced to a
low valency state is called Oxidising agent.
 The substance that loses electrons and is thereby oxidised to a higher valency state is called
a reducing agent.

Important Oxidizing Agents


 Molecules made up of electronegative elements. Eg: O2, O3, and X2 (halogens)
 Compounds containing an element that is in the higher oxidized state. Eg: KMnO4, K2Cv2O7,
HNO3, KClo3
 Oxides of metals and non-metals. Eg: MgO, CuO, CrO3, P4O10
 Fluorine is the strongest oxidizing agent.

Important Reducing Agents


 All metals, for example: Na, Zn, Fe, Al
 A few non-metals such as C, Hydrogen, S, P
 Hydracids, for example: HCl, HBr, HI, H2S
 Few compounds containing an element in the lower oxidation state. Examples include: FeCl 2,
FeSo4, SnCl2, Hg2Cl2
 Metallic hydrides including NaH, LiH, CaH2, etc.
 Organic compound like HCOOH
Lithium is the strongest reducing agent in the solution and Cesium is the strongest reducing agent in
the absence of water. The substances which act as oxidizing as well as reducing agents are H 2O2,
SO2, H2SO3, HNO2, NaNO2

Identification of Oxidizing and Reducing Agents


 If an element is in its higher possible oxidation state in a compound. It can function as an
oxidising agent. Eg: KMnO4, K2Cr2O7, HNO3, H2SO4, HClO4
 If an element is in its possible lower oxidation state in a compound, it can function as a
reducing agent. Eg: H2S, H2C2O4, FeSO4, SnCl2
 If a highly electronegative element is in its highest oxidation state, the compound will act as
an oxidising agent.
 If a highly electronegative element is in its lowest oxidation state the compound acts as a
reducing agent.

Balancing Redox Reaction


There are two ways of balancing the redox reaction. One method is by using the change in oxidation
number of oxidizing agent and the reducing agent and the other method is based on dividing the
redox reaction into two half reactions-one of reduction and other oxidation.

Problems on Balancing Redox Reactions


Example 1: Balance the following redox reaction in the acid medium by the ion-electron method.

Example 2: Balance the following redox reaction in acid medium by ion-electron method.

Example: 3 Balance the following reaction in basic medium by ion-electron method.


Applications of Redox Reaction
Redox reactions have numerous industrial and everyday applications. A few of these applications of
redox reactions are listed below.

Applications of Redox Reaction in Electrochemistry


The battery used for generating DC current uses a redox reaction to produce electrical energy.

Batteries or electrochemical cells used in our day-to-day life are also based on redox reactions. For
example, storage cells are used in vehicles to supply all the electrical needs of the vehicles.

Applications in Photosynthesis
Green plants convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and this process is defined as
photosynthesis. The reaction is given as 6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2
Real-Life Uses of Redox Reaction
 Production of some important chemicals is also based on electrolysis which in turn is based
on redox reactions. Many chemicals like caustic soda, chlorine, etc. are produced using
redox reactions.
 Oxidation-Reduction reactions also find their application in sanitizing water and bleaching
materials.
 The surfaces of many metals can be protected from corrosion by connecting them to
sacrificial anodes which undergoes corrosion instead. A common example of this technique
is the galvanization of steel.
 The industrial production of cleaning products involves the oxidation process.
 Nitric acid, a component of many fertilizers, is produced from the oxidation reaction of
ammonia.
 Electroplating is a process that uses redox reactions to apply a thin coating of a material on
an object. Electroplating is used in the production of gold-plated jewellery.
 Many metals are separated from their ores with the help of redox reactions. One such
example is the smelting of metal sulfides in the presence of reducing agents.
The main source of oxidation is oxygen and therefore redox reaction or oxidation-reduction reactions
are responsible for food spoilage.

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