Chapter 17: Problem 2

Explain the terms oxidation and reduction in terms of electrons.

Short Answer

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Oxidation is the process in which a substance loses or donates electrons. Reduction, on the other hand, is a process where a substance gains or accepts electrons.

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Definition of Oxidation

Oxidation is a process in which a substance loses electrons. In other words, when an atom, ion, or molecule donates an electron to another species, it is said to be oxidized. This process may be represented using a half equation. For example, if we take sodium (Na), which has an electron configuration of \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{1}\), during oxidation, it loses one electron to have a stable electron configuration and turns into a sodium ion (Na+). Here is the half-equation for the process: \(Na \rightarrow Na^{+} + e^{-}\). This tells us that one sodium atom (Na) has been oxidized to a sodium ion (Na+) by losing one electron.

Definition of Reduction

Reduction is a process in which a substance gains electrons. That means when an atom, ion, or molecule accepts an electron from another species, it is said to be reduced. Like oxidation, this can also be represented using a half equation. Taking Chlorine(Cl) for instance, which has an electron configuration of \(1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{6}3s^{2}3p^{5}\), it needs one more electron to have a stable electron configuration. In the reduction process, it gains one electron and turns into a chlorine ion (Cl-). The half equation for this process will be: \(Cl +e^{-} \rightarrow Cl^{-}\). This tells us that chlorine(Cl) is being reduced to a chloride ion (Cl-) by gaining one electron.

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Explain the terms oxidation and reduction in terms of electrons.

Short Answer

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Definition of Oxidation

Definition of Reduction

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