What makes a reducing agent strong

Reaction of copper oxide with hydrogen — Image will be uploaded soon. Reaction of iron oxide with hydrogen — Image will be uploaded soon. Reducing agent is an element or compound that —. Itself gets oxidized in a redox chemical reaction. Thus, reducing agent reduces others while itself gets oxidized by losing electrons. As reducing agents lose electrons so generally, they possess low electronegativity and very small ionization energies.

S-block metals generally work as good reducing agents. It is also called reductant or reducers. In the above reaction iron is losing 2 electrons thus, acting as a reducing agent. Thus, the oxidation state of iron is increasing, so oxidation is taking place. While another reactant copper is gaining two electrons and working as an oxidizing agent.

Thus, iron is acting as a reducing agent but getting oxidized itself while copper is acting as an oxidizing agent but reduced. Reducing Agent. Loses its electrons. Gets oxidized itself. In such species, the distance from the nucleus to the valence electrons is so long that these electrons are not strongly attracted.

These elements tend to be strong reducing agents. Good reducing agents tend to consist of atoms with a low electronegativity , the ability of an atom or molecule to attract bonding electrons 1 , and relatively small ionization energies serve as good reducing agents too.

The table below shows a few reduction potentials that could easily be changed to oxidation potential by simply changing the sign. Reducing agents can be ranked by increasing strength by ranking their oxidation potentials. The reducing agent will be the strongest when it has a more positive oxidation potential and will be a weak reducing agent whenever it has a negative oxidation potential. In order to tell which is the strongest reducing agent, change the sign of its respective reduction potential in order to make it oxidation potential.

The bigger the number the stronger a reducing agent it is. For example if one were to list Cu, Cl - , Na and Cr in order, one would get their reduction potential, change the sign to make it oxidation potential and list them from greatest to least. A few good common reducing agents include active metals such as potassium, calcium, barium, sodium and magnesium and also, compounds that contain the H- ion, those being NaH, LiAlH 4 and CaH 2.

Also, some elements and compounds can be both reducing or oxidizing agents. Hydrogen gas is a reducing agent when it reacts with non-metals and an oxidizing agent when it reacts with metals. Corrosion requires an anode and cathode to take place. Oxygen, a moderately strong oxidizing agent, is ubiquitous in the atmosphere and can react rapidly with the compounds in this class.

A dramatic example of an oxidation-reduction or redox reaction is the reaction of a piece of sodium metal with water. When sodium is dropped into water, the sodium is acting as a reducing agent and the water is acting as a very weak oxidizing agent.

This reaction generates hydrogen gas as well as heat and sparks which can ignite the hydrogen and cause it to explode. Reactions of strong reducing agents with compounds that are known oxidizing agents are often explosive. However, potentially explosive mixtures of oxidizing agents and reducing agents can persist unchanged for long periods if disturbances heat, spark, catalyst, mechanical shock are prevented.

Another, more dangerous class of explosives are those where the oxidizing agent and reducing agent are actually different parts of the same compound. F 2 is such a good oxidizing agent that metals, quartz, asbestos, and even water burst into flame in its presence. Other good oxidizing agents include O 2 , O 3 , and Cl 2 , which are the elemental forms of the second and third most electronegative elements, respectively.

Another place to look for good oxidizing agents is among compounds with unusually large oxidation states, such as the permanganate MnO 4 - , chromate CrO 4 2- , and dichromate Cr 2 O 7 2- ions, as well as nitric acid HNO 3 , perchloric acid HClO 4 , and sulfuric acid H 2 SO 4. These compounds are strong oxidizing agents because elements become more electronegative as the oxidation states of their atoms increase. Good reducing agents include the active metals, such as sodium, magnesium, aluminum, and zinc, which have relatively small ionization energies and low electro-negativities.

Some compounds can act as either oxidizing agents or reducing agents.