Question

Identify the species oxidized, the species reduced, the oxidizing agent and the reducing agent in the following electron-transfer reaction. Mg(s) + 12(s) —— Mg2+(aq) + 21"(aq) species oxidized species reduced oxidizing agent reducing agent As the reaction proceeds, electrons are transferred from

Answer 1

The reactant which gains electrons in a redox reaction is said to be reduced while the reactant that gives out electrons is said to be oxidized.

An oxidizing agent is a substance that removes electrons from other substance in a redox reaction and itself gets reduced.

Therefore for the following reaction,

This is an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction:

2I^{​​​​​​0} + 2 e- → 2 I^{​​​​​​-1}

(reduction) I_{​​​​​​2} is reduced because it has gained electrons

Mg^{​​​​​o} - 2 e- → Mg^​​​2+

(oxidation) Mg is oxidized because it has lost electrons.

I_{​​​​​​2} is an oxidizing agent, Mg is a reducing agent