Chemistry Redox Reactions Explained
HOW ARE REDOX REACTIONS DIFFERENT?
Redox is the term used to label reactions in which the acceptance of an electron (reduction) by a material is matched with the donation of an electron (oxidation). A large number of the reactions already mentioned in the Reactions chapter are redox reactions.
Synthesis reactions are also redox reactions if there is an exchange of electrons to make an ionic bond. If chlorine gas is added to sodium metal to make sodium chloride, the sodium has donated an electron and the chlorine has accepted an electron to become a chloride ion or an attached chlorine.
If a compound divides into elements in a decomposition, a decomposition reaction could be a redox reaction. The electrolysis of water is a redox reaction. With a direct electric current through it, water can be separated into oxygen and hydrogen. H2O H2 + O2 The oxygen and hydrogen in the water are attached by a covalent bond that breaks to make the element oxygen and the element hydrogen. Learning more about the conditions for redox reactions will show that the electrolysis of water is a redox reaction.
A single replacement reaction is always a redox reaction because it involves an element that becomes incorporated into a compound and an element in the compound being released as a free element.
A double replacement reaction usually is not a redox reaction. Back to the top of Redox.
OXIDATION STATES
Before we go any further into redox, we must understand oxidation states. The idea of oxidation state began with whether or not a metal was attached to an oxygen. Unattached (free) atoms have an oxidation state of zero. Since oxygen almost always takes in two electrons when it is not a free element, the combined form of oxygen (oxide) has an oxidation state of minus two. The exception to a combined oxygen taking two electrons is the peroxide configuration. Peroxide can be represented by -O-O- where the each dash is a covalent bond and each ‘O’ is an oxygen atom. Peroxide
Redox is the term used to label reactions in which the acceptance of an electron (reduction) by a material is matched with the donation of an electron (oxidation). A large number of the reactions already mentioned in the Reactions chapter are redox reactions.
Synthesis reactions are also redox reactions if there is an exchange of electrons to make an ionic bond. If chlorine gas is added to sodium metal to make sodium chloride, the sodium has donated an electron and the chlorine has accepted an electron to become a chloride ion or an attached chlorine.
If a compound divides into elements in a decomposition, a decomposition reaction could be a redox reaction. The electrolysis of water is a redox reaction. With a direct electric current through it, water can be separated into oxygen and hydrogen. H2O H2 + O2 The oxygen and hydrogen in the water are attached by a covalent bond that breaks to make the element oxygen and the element hydrogen. Learning more about the conditions for redox reactions will show that the electrolysis of water is a redox reaction.
A single replacement reaction is always a redox reaction because it involves an element that becomes incorporated into a compound and an element in the compound being released as a free element.
A double replacement reaction usually is not a redox reaction. Back to the top of Redox.
OXIDATION STATES
Before we go any further into redox, we must understand oxidation states. The idea of oxidation state began with whether or not a metal was attached to an oxygen. Unattached (free) atoms have an oxidation state of zero. Since oxygen almost always takes in two electrons when it is not a free element, the combined form of oxygen (oxide) has an oxidation state of minus two. The exception to a combined oxygen taking two electrons is the peroxide configuration. Peroxide can be represented by -O-O- where the each dash is a covalent bond and each ‘O’ is an oxygen atom. Peroxide