REDOX REACTIONS

• Reactions in which oxidation and reduction takes place simultaneously.

• Two concepts : (i) Classical concept

(ii) Electronic concept

(I) CLASSICAL CONCEPT:

OXIDATION: It is defined as addition of oxygen or removal of hydrogen.

 The substance which gives oxygen or removes hydrogen is called OXIDISING AGENT or
OXIDANT.
In the above reactions O2 and Br2 are the oxidising agents.

REDUCTION: It is defined as addition of hydrogen or removal of oxygen.

 The substance which gives hydrogen or removes oxygen is called REDUCING AGENT OR
REDUCTANT.
In the above reactions H2, C and CO are the reducing agents.

(II) ELECTRONIC CONCEPT

OXIDATION: is a process which involves loss of electrons by an atom or a group of atoms.

• As a result there is increase in positive charge or decrease in negative charge of the atom or ion
undergoing oxidation.

REDUCTION: is a process which involves gain of electrons by an atom or a group of atoms.

• As a result there is decrease in positive charge or increase in negative charge of the atom or ion
undergoing oxidation.
 • Oxidising Agent/ Oxidant: is a substance which can accept one or more electrons OR the substance
that gets reduced.
• Reducing Agent/ Reductant: is a substance which can give one or more electrons OR the substance
that gets oxidised.

OXIDATION NUMBER:
The charge which an atom appears to have when all other atoms are removed from it as ions is called oxidation
number.

Rules for assigning oxidation number:

1) The oxidation number of any element in the elemental state is zero. Eg. H2 , O2 , S8, P4, Hg, Zn

2) Oxidation number of an element in the single ion (monoatomic) is the charge on

the ion
F- -1
+
K +1
O2- -2
Ca2+ +2
SO42- -2
Al3+ +3

PO43- -3
B- -1

3) In binary compounds of metal or non-metal, the oxidation number of metal is always positive while for non-
metal negative.
e.g. in NaCl, O.N of Na is +1 and O.N of Cl is -1

4) In non-metallic compounds, atoms with high electronegativity is given negative O.N.

5) Oxidation number of elements in compound is calculated as follows:

• Hydrogen is assigned oxidation number +1 except when hydrogen combines with active metals of group
1 and 2 to form metal hydrides.
e.g. KH, NaH, MgH2, LiH it shows O.N. is -1.

• Oxygen is assigned oxidation number -2 in most of the compounds.

 when oxygen forms peroxides e.g. Na2O2, H2O2  O.N. is -1
  Fluorides .. OF2  +2 , O2F2  +1
• Fluorine is the most electronegative and its oxidation number is -1 in all the compounds. Other
halogens also exhibit -1 except when bonded to a more electronegative halogen of oxygen.

e.g. HI O.N of I is -1 but IF5 O.N of I is +5

6) All alkali metals have oxidation number +1 and all alkaline earth metal (group 2) have oxidation number +2.

7) For neutral molecules, sum of O.N of all atoms is equal to zero.

For complex ions, sum of O.N is equal to the charge on the ion.

PROBLEMS:

REDOX REACTION IN TERMS OF OXIDATION NUMBER:

• Oxidation is increase in oxidation number
• Reduction is decrease in oxidation number

• Oxidising agent: substance whose oxidation number decreases ( undergoes reduction)

• Reducing agent: substance whose oxidation number increases ( undergoes oxidation)
PROBLEMS
TYPES OF REDOX REACTIONS:

1) COMBINATION REACTIONS:
 Chemical reactions in which 2 or more substances (elements and compounds) combine to form a single
substance are called Combination reactions.
A + B C
 Both A and B have to be in elementary form.
Eg. i) C + O2 CO2
ii) 3Mg + N2 Mg3N2
iii) CH4 + 2O2 CO2 ( combustion reactions using up O2 are redox)

2) DECOMPOSITION REACTIONS:
 Chemical reactions in which a compound breaks up into 2 or more simple substances.
C A + B
 They are opposite of combination reactions.
 At least one compound formed should be in elemental form.
e.g. i) 2H2O 2H2 + O2
ii) 2NaH 2Na + H2
iii) 2KClO3 2KCl + 3O2

3) DISPLACEMENT REACTIONS:
 In a displacement reaction, an ion or atom in a compound is replaced by an ion or an atom of another
element.
X + YZ XZ + Y
Metal displacement reactions
 Divided into two types
Non- Metal displacement reactions

i) METAL DISPLACEMENT REACTIONS:

A metal in a compound can be displaced by another metal in the uncombined state.

1
NON - METAL DISPLACEMENT REACTIONS:
The non-metal displacement redox reactions include hydrogen displacement OR a reaction involving oxygen
displacement ( rarely occurring)

4) DISPROPORTIONATION REACTIONS:
 In Disproportionation reaction, an element in one oxidation state is simultaneously oxidised and
reduced.
 In Disproportionation reaction, one of the reacting substance can exist in at least three oxidation states.

BALANCING OF CHEMICAL EQUATIONS OF REDOX REACTIONS:

II] OXIDATION NUMBER METHOD:

Step 1: Write the skeletal redox equation of all reactants and indicate the O.N of each element.

Step 2: Identify elements undergoing change in O.N. and Calculate the inc. or dec. in O.N per atom. ( if more
than 1 atom of same element is involved, find out the total inc. or dec. in O.N and then multiply this no. of
increase/decrease of O.N with the number of atoms which are undergoing the change.

Step 3: Equate the increase in O.N with decrease in O.N on the reactant side by multiplying the formulae of the
oxidising and reducing agents.

Step 4: a) Balance the equation w.r.t all other atoms except H and O

b) Balance O atoms by adding required no. of H2O molecules to the side deficient in O atoms

e)In acidic medium: H atoms are balanced by adding H+ ions to side deficient in H -atoms.
f) In basic medium: add H2O molecules to the side deficient in H-atoms and simultaneously add equal no. of
OH- ions on the other side of the equation .

Step 5: Balance the equation by cancelling common species present on both sides of the equation.

PROBLEMS: (ATTACH TWO PAGES)

II] HALF EQUATION METHOD/ ION-ELECTRON METHOD:

Step 1: Write the skeletal equation of all reactants and products of the reaction and indicate the O.N of each
element and identify elememts undergoing change in O.N.
Step 2: Calculate the inc. or dec. in O.N per atom and identify the species which undergo oxidation and
reduction.
Step 3: Separate the skeletal equation into two half reactions i.e. oxidation half reaction and reduction half
reaction.
Step 4: Balance half equations by foll steps:
a) Balance all atoms other than H and O
b) Add electrons to whichever side is necessary to make up the difference in O.N in each half reaction.
c) Balance the half equation so that both sides get the same charge.
d) ) Balance O atoms by adding required no. of H2O molecules to the side deficient in O atoms
e) e) In acidic medium: H atoms are balanced by adding H+ ions to side deficient in H-atoms.
f) f) In basic medium: add H2O molecules to the side deficient in H atoms and simultaneously add equal
no. of OH- ions on the other side of the equation .
g) Step 5: Balance the number of e- by multiplying the half reactions by suitable numbers. Add the two
half reactions.

PROBLEMS: (ATTACH TWO PAGES)

ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL :
• Electrochemical cells are cells in which chemical energy is converted into electrical energy.
• Also called Galvanic / Voltaic cells. E.g DANIELL CELL

•
  Functions of the salt bridge:
1) connects the solutions in the two half cells.
2) Allows flow of current by completing the circuit.
3) Prevents mixing of the two solutions.
4) Maintains electrical neutrality in the two half cells.

EMF and Standard Electrode potential:

• ELECTRODE POTENTIAL : The electrical potential difference set up between the metal and its
solution is called ELECTRODE POTENTIAL

• Oxidation Potential: It is the ability of an electrode to loose electrons and become oxidised.

• Reduction Potential: It is the ability of an ion in solution to gain electrons from its own electrode and
become reduced.

Greater the reduction potential of an ion, more easily it reduced and vice versa. E.g in Daniell cell, Cu2+ is
reduced due to greater reduction potential than Zn, which is oxidized.

• Standard electrode potential: is the measure of potential of a reaction that occurs at the electrode when
all the substances involved in the reaction are in their standard states that is solutions are
at 1M concentrations, gases at 1 atm pressure and reaction is carried out at 298K.

• The arrangement of elements in order of decreasing reduction potential values is called Electrochemical
Series.
 • Applications :
1) To select good oxidising and reducing agents: All the substances having
higher value of standard reduction potential (appearing on the top of the electrochemical series) are good
oxidizing agents, whereas those having a lower value of standard reduction potential (appearing on the
bottom of the electrochemical series) are a good reducing agents.

e.g, F2 electrode with the standard reduction potential value of +2.87 is a strong oxidizing agent and Li+ with
standard reduction potential value of -3.05 volts is a strong reducing agent.

2) To compare reactivities of metals: Metals having smaller reduction potentials (lower position in series) can
displace metals having larger reduction potentials from the solutions of their salts.

e.g. If Cu foils are added to AgNO3 soln, Ag is displaced from the soln. since Cu has lower reduction potential
than Ag

3) Calculation of EMF of cell: The difference

between the electrode potentials of the two electrodes constituting an electrochemical cell under conditions of
zero electron flow is known as Electromotive Force or Cell Potential of a cell (EMF) [ Ecell ]

Standard EMF of cell (Eocell ) is calculated as follows:

Eocell = EoRHS – EoLHS

Eocell = Eocathode – Eoanode