Chapter 5.

Oxidation-Reduction Reactions
Learning Goals:
1. Understand the nature of oxidation-reduction (Redox) reaction
and oxidizing agents, reducing agents.
2. Be able to use oxidation numbers to identify redox reactions.
3. Be able to use activity series of metals to predict
 The reactivity of metals
 the products of reactions

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5.1 Oxidation-Reduction Reactions

What is an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction?

 Originally only for reactions of metal with oxygen
 Now it is defined as electrons transferring reactions
 Oxidation and reduction must always occur together

What is a half-reaction?
 Oxidation half-reaction – a process which loses electrons,
 Reduction half-reaction – a process which gains electrons.

What is an oxidizing or reducing agent?

 Oxidizing agent- the reactant that gains electrons,
 Reducing agent - the reactant that loses electrons.

Note: Oxidizing agent gains electrons from reducing agent.

After electrons transferring:

 oxidizing agent is reduced (carry less positive charge)

 reducing agent is oxidized (carry more positive charge)

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Example 1. Is the following reaction a redox reaction? If yes,
write the oxidation half and reduction-half reactions, and
indicate which one is oxidizing agent and which is the reducing
agent.

e-

Na(s) + ½ Cl2 (g)  Na+Cl- Oxidation-reduction

reaction

Oxidation half-reaction: Na – e-  Na+

Reduction half-reaction: Cl + e-  Cl-

Oxidizing agent is Cl2, and reducing agent is Na(s).

Cl2 is reduced, and Na is oxidized.

Note: electrons appear in half-reactions, but not in whole

reactions.

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Example 2: Write the oxidation half and reduction half
reactions for the following redox reaction.

2e-

Mg + ½ O2  Mg2+O2-

Oxidation half reaction: Mg - 2e  Mg2+

Reduction half reaction: ½ O2 + 2 e  O2-

Oxidizing agent: O2
Reducing agent: Mg

Example 3. Is the following a redox reaction? Which species

gets oxidized in the reaction?

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Redox reaction is a common class of chemical reactions that
occur in chemistry and biology.

 Batteries—car, flashlight, cell phone, computer

 Metabolism of food
 Chlorine Bleach (Clorox)

 Combustion: C + O2  CO2
 Metal rusting: Fe (s) + O2  Fe2O3(s)

Common reducing agents: metals

Common oxidizing agents: nonmetals such as O2, Cl2

Redox reactions are usually between metals and nonmetals.

Fe (s) + O2  Fe2O3(s)

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Redox reactions can also happen between nonmetals:
S + O2  SO2

S is a nonmetal, it doesn’t completely lose electrons, but

partially lose electrons to O2 when forming a compound
(meanwhile, O partially gains electrons in the compound).

 The oxidation numbers (oxidation states) of S and O

change.
 ox.# of S: 0  +4, ox.# of O: 0  -2

 Usually, an element loses electrons, its ox. # increases;

 An element gains electrons, its ox. # decreases.

What is the oxidation number (oxidation states)? - It describes

the degree of oxidation in a compound. It is a system for
tracking electrons,
 In ionic compound, it is the real charge;
 In molecular compound, it is hypothetical charge as if it is
ionic. It shows how to divide the shared electrons between
two atoms in a covalent bond.
o Positive: lose some electrons
o Negative: gain some electrons
o Zero: neutral

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Rules of Assigning Oxidation Numbers
1. Free elements: ox.# = 0. Ex. N2, H2 or S8.

2. Ionic compounds: ox.# = charges on the ion.

 G1A metal ions: ox# = +1
 G2A metal ions: ox# = +2
 G3A metal ions (Al3+) : ox# = +3

For examples,
NaCl: ox.# of Na = +1, ox.# of Cl = -1
CaO: ox.# of Ca = +2, ox.# of O = -2

3. In binary molecular compounds (AB), the element written last

is more electronegative and assigned a negative ox.#, and the
element written first is assigned a positive ox.# (as if in ionic
compound).

Ex. CO: ox.# of C = +2, ox.# of O = -2

HCl: ox.# of H = +1, ox.# of Cl = -1

Note: in molecular compounds, the ox.# are not real charge.

4. For some elements, their ox.# are always the same in

compounds:

(a) The ox.# of F is always -1 in a compound;

(b) The ox.# of O = -2 in oxide (O2- );

The ox.# of O = -1 in peroxide (O22-)

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(c) The ox.# of H = +1 with nonmetals; The ox.# of H = -1 with
metals

HCl: ox.# of H = +1; NaH: ox.# of H = -1

5. Sum of ox.# = 0 for a neutral compound;

Sum of ox.# = overall charge for a polyatomic ion.

Exercise 1. Assign the ox. # of the following molecules or ion.

(a) Li2O (b) H3PO4 (c) ClO4–

Exercise 2. Assign the ox. # of S in the following formulas:

H2S, S8, SO2, SO3, SO42-

Redefine Oxidation-Reduction in Terms of Oxidation

Number

• A redox reaction occurs when there is a change in oxidation

number before and after reaction

Oxidation: Increase in oxidation number (equivalent to electron

loss)

Reduction: Decrease in oxidation number (equivalent to

electron gain)

Oxidizing agent: Ox. # decreases

Reducing agent: Ox. # increases

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Using Oxidation Numbers to Recognize Redox Reactions

Step 1. Assign ox.# of all elements on both sides of arrow

(ignore the coefficients).
Step 2. For an element which ox.# increase - oxidation
For an element which ox.# decrease – reduction.

Example 1. Is following a redox reaction?

Reduction: Cu2+ + 2e  Cu

Oxidation: Zn – 2e  Zn2+

Oxidizing agent: Cu2+

Reducing agent: Zn

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Example 2. Assign oxidation numbers to all atoms in the
following reaction and use them to determine which species gets
reduced.

Oxidation: 2Cl- -2e  Cl2

Reduction: Mn4+ + 2e  Mn2+

Oxidizing agent: MnO2

Reducing agent: KCl (specifically Cl-)

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5.4 Redox reactions of metals

Metals are usually reducing agents

Oxidizing agents: nonmetals (O2, Cl2), acids (HCl, HNO3), salts

1. Oxidation of metals by acids

General equation: Metal + Acid  salt + hydrogen gas

Example:
Zn(s) + 2 HCl(aq)  ZnCl2(aq) + H2(g)

Zn(s) + H2SO4(aq)  ZnSO4(aq) + H2(g)

Ionic equation: Zn(s) + 2H+  Zn2+ + H2(g)

This is an oxidation-reduction reaction, in which

 Zn is the reducing agent (losing e): ox.#: 0  +2,

 Acid (H+) is the oxidizing agent )(gaining e): ox.#: +1  0.

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Other metals can also react with acid to produce H2(g):

Mg(s) + 2 HCl(aq)  MgCl2(aq) + H2(g)

Ca(s) + 2 HCl(aq)  CaCl2(aq) + H2(g)

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However, there are some metals, such as Cu, Ag, Au, etc.,
which can’t react with acid to produce hydrogen gas.

No rex.
Cu(s) + HCl(aq)  CuCl2 + H2(g)
Red. Ox. Red. Ox.

The reverse reaction can happen:

H2(g) + CuCl2  Cu(s) + HCl(aq)

As reducing agent: Cu(s) < H2

As oxidizing agent: Cu2+ > H+

Based on the strength of reducing agents (easiness of losing

electrons), we have the table of activity series of metals:

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H2 is also listed:
 The metals listed above H2 are stronger reducing agents
than H2 (easier to lose electrons than H2), hence, they can
react with acid (H+) to produce H2 gas;
 The metals listed below H2 are more difficult to lose
electrons than H2, hence, they can’t react with acid to
produce H2 gas.

Note:

Nonoxidizing acids: HCl, HBr, HI, H2SO4, etc, react with metals
to give H2(g);

Oxidizing acids: HNO3, react with metal to give NO2 gas.

Cu(s) + 4HNO3(aq)  Cu(NO3)2 + 2NO2(g) + H2O(l)

Exercise 1: Can the following reactions happen? If yes, give the

products and balance it. Then write net ionic equation. If not,
write NR.

(1) Sn(s) + H2SO4(aq) 

(2) Ag(s) + HCl (aq) 
(3) Pt(s) + HNO3(aq)

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The second application of metal activity series is to predict the
reaction between metals:
 The metals listed above are stronger reducing agents than
the metals listed below. Therefore, they can lose electrons
to the metal ions listed below.

2. Oxidation of metals by salts (metal ions)

Ex. 1 Zn(s) + CuSO4(aq)  ZnSO4(aq) + Cu(s)

Net ionic equation: Zn + Cu2+  Zn2+ + Cu

 Reducing agent: Zn, Oxidizing agent: Cu2+

 Zn is a stronger reducing agent than Cu

Ex. 2 Ag(s) + CuSO4(aq)  no reaction!

Net ionic equation: Ag + Cu2+ 

 Ag is weaker reducing agent than Cu. So, Ag can’t give

electron to Cu2+

Ex. 3. Can Cu(s) give electrons to Ag+?

Cu(s) + AgNO3(aq) 

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Demonstration of the reaction between Zn(s) and CuSO4 (aq).

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3. Summary of activity series of metals

(1). The most active metal (Li) is listed first, and the least active
metal (Au) is listed the last.

(2). A metal can lose electrons to the metal ions listed below it.

K(s) + Ca2+  K+ + Ca(s)

No!
K(s) + Li+  K+ + Li(s)

The direction of reaction is diagonal from left to right:

(3). The list also includes hydrogen element. The metals listed
above H2 can react with H+ (acid) to produce hydrogen gas and
salt. But the metals listed below H2 can’t react with H+.

(4). The left side (metals) are all reducing agents while the right
side (metal ions) are oxidizing agents. The strongest reducing
agent is on the top, left (Li), and the strongest oxidizing agent is
on the bottom, right (Au3+).

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Exercise 1. Can the following reactions happen?

1) 2Au3+(aq) + 3Ca(s) 
2) Au(s) + Ca2+(aq) 
3) Sn(s) + Na+(aq) 
4) Mn(s) + Co2+(aq) 
5) Cu(s) + H+(aq) 

Exercise 2. Using the following observations, rank these metals

from most reactive to least reactive:
o Cu(s) + HCl(aq) → no reaction
o Zn(s) + 2HCl(aq) → ZnCl2(aq) + H2(g)
o Mg(s) + ZnCl2(aq) → MgCl2(aq) + Zn(s)

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