The Statue Of Liberty: What Is Redox Chemistry?
The statue of Liberty first arrived in America in 1886 and took up permanent residency on Bedloe’s island in New York Harbor. The statue weighs in at 280 tons and is visible for more than 42 miles on a clear day. The statue of Liberty is without a doubt, among the most monumental figures in American history. The Statue of Liberty is made of an aluminum scaffolding, an iron framework and metal skin made from copper. Originally, she was to be made of bronze, but weight problems required a switch to a lighter metal. The 300 copper plates that encase the framework are held together with some 300,000 copper rivets. In the past years, the Statue of Liberty’s greatest battle has been withstanding the harsh weather of a coastal climate over more than
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How does this occur though, and why? What’s the chemistry behind it all? To find out we must begin with redox reactions.
WHAT IS REDOX CHEMISTRY?
Electrons are the driving force behind all chemical reactions. Electrons make it possible for atoms to bond to other atoms to form molecules, and when this happens, a huge amount of energy can be exchanged in the process. But not all chemical reactions involve the changing of electrons between atoms, acid based reactions for example involve the exchange of protons. However, the most important chemical reaction that takes place involve the transfer of one or more electrons between one atom and another. These are what we call redox reactions.
Redox chemistry or redox reactions refer to a family of reactions that involve the transfer of electrons between different species, a species being a group of chemically molecular elements that can experience the same set of molecular energy levels on a given time scale. A redox reaction in a nutshell involves the questions –
- What species has what electrons?
- During the reaction, where did these electrons start, and where did they go?
Here we can see some simplified examples of a redox …show more content…
To determine how many electrons an atom has and to determine where these atoms will go during a redox reaction, we can use oxidation numbers to determine this. The following guidelines can be used to determine the oxidation state of an atom or molecule.
1) Atoms in their pure elemental state (neutral) will have an oxidation number of zero, this is because the element has neither been oxidized or reduced.
2) The sum of the oxidation state of all atoms in an ion is equal the charge on the ion. The ionic charge of an atom can be determined by consulting a periodic table. Generally, metals on the left will be positive and non-metals on the right will negative. The periodic table below shows the general trend for ionic charges
3) Hydrogen is either a +1 (with nonmetals) or a -1 (with metals)
Oxygen is a -2 except when in a peroxide (H2 02) then it will be a -1
4) In compounds, all other atoms are given an oxidation number so that the sum of the oxidation number on all atoms in the species will equal the overall charge of the
How does this occur though, and why? What’s the chemistry behind it all? To find out we must begin with redox reactions.
WHAT IS REDOX CHEMISTRY?
Electrons are the driving force behind all chemical reactions. Electrons make it possible for atoms to bond to other atoms to form molecules, and when this happens, a huge amount of energy can be exchanged in the process. But not all chemical reactions involve the changing of electrons between atoms, acid based reactions for example involve the exchange of protons. However, the most important chemical reaction that takes place involve the transfer of one or more electrons between one atom and another. These are what we call redox reactions.
Redox chemistry or redox reactions refer to a family of reactions that involve the transfer of electrons between different species, a species being a group of chemically molecular elements that can experience the same set of molecular energy levels on a given time scale. A redox reaction in a nutshell involves the questions –
- What species has what electrons?
- During the reaction, where did these electrons start, and where did they go?
Here we can see some simplified examples of a redox …show more content…
To determine how many electrons an atom has and to determine where these atoms will go during a redox reaction, we can use oxidation numbers to determine this. The following guidelines can be used to determine the oxidation state of an atom or molecule.
1) Atoms in their pure elemental state (neutral) will have an oxidation number of zero, this is because the element has neither been oxidized or reduced.
2) The sum of the oxidation state of all atoms in an ion is equal the charge on the ion. The ionic charge of an atom can be determined by consulting a periodic table. Generally, metals on the left will be positive and non-metals on the right will negative. The periodic table below shows the general trend for ionic charges
3) Hydrogen is either a +1 (with nonmetals) or a -1 (with metals)
Oxygen is a -2 except when in a peroxide (H2 02) then it will be a -1
4) In compounds, all other atoms are given an oxidation number so that the sum of the oxidation number on all atoms in the species will equal the overall charge of the