Section 1 Oxidation and Reduction

Chapter 19

I- Oxidation States
• What are the oxidation numbers?

Arbitrary numbers used to indicate the general

distribution of electrons among the bonded
atoms

• The rules by which oxidation numbers are

assigned are summarized on the next slide.
 Section 1 Oxidation and Reduction
Chapter 19

Rules for Assigning Oxidation Numbers

 Examples: Assign O.N for the each atom in the following:
• UF6 : rule 4: the O.N of fluorine is -1, so for 6 F the O.N = -6
rule 8: the O.N of the whole compound = 0, so the O.N of U = -6
H2SO4: rule 6: the O.N of hydrogen is +1, so for 2H the O.N = +2
rule 5: the O.N of oxygen is -2, so for 4O the O.N = -8
rule 8: the O.N of the whole compound = 0, so the O.N of S = +6

ClO3- rule 5: the O.N of oxygen is -2, so for 3O the O.N= -6

rule 9: the O.N of the polyatomic ion = -1, so the O.N of Cl= +5
P4O10 rule 5: the O.N of oxygen is -2, so for 10O the O.N = -20

rule 8: the O.N of the whole compound = 0, so 4P= +20, so each

P= +5
 Section 1 Oxidation and Reduction
Chapter 19

Assigning Oxidation
Numbers
 Section 1 Oxidation and Reduction
Chapter 19
II- Oxidation and Reduction
• What is oxidation?

A process in which the oxidation number of an atom or an

ion increases

A species whose oxidation number increases is oxidized.

• What is reduction?

A process in which the oxidation number of an atom or an

ion decreases

• A species whose oxidation number decreases is reduced

 Section 1 Oxidation and Reduction
Chapter 19
For example:
In the following reaction

2Na + Cl2 2NaCl

The O.N of Na = 0 (rule 1)
The O.N of Cl = 0 (rule 1)
The O.N of Na+ is +1 (rule 2), the O.N of Cl-1 is -1 (rule 2)
So in this reaction the O.N of sodium increases, so sodium is
oxidized( sodium lost electron in the reaction), while the
O.N of chlorine decreases so chlorine is reduced(chlorine
gained an electron in the reaction)
 Section 1 Oxidation and Reduction
Chapter 19

Oxidation and Reduction as a Process

• Any chemical process in which elements undergo
changes in oxidation number is an oxidation-reduction
reaction.
• In any reaction if there is an element oxidized there
must be an element reduced (and the number of
electrons lost equals the number of electrons gained)
• This name is often shortened to redox reaction.
• The part of the reaction involving oxidation or reduction
alone can be written as a half-reaction.
•For example:
•In the following reaction, state which element is oxidized and
which element is reduced, state the two half reactions:

Cu + 4HNO3 Cu(NO3)2 + 2H2O + 2NO2

1- Start by assigning oxidation numbers for every atom in the
reaction
2- Then check which atom increases its O.N (oxidized) and which
atom decreases her O.N (reduced)
3- Note that some atoms will not change its O.N, so these atoms
are not oxidized nor reduced
4- In any reaction, if there is an atom oxidized there must be
another one reduced
 Section 1 Oxidation and Reduction
Chapter 19

• Equations for the reaction between nitric acid and

copper illustrate the relationship between half-
reactions and the overall redox reaction.
0 +2
Cu  Cu 2+
+ 2e – (oxidation half-reaction)
+5 – 2 +1 +4 – 2 +1 – 2
–
2NO + 2e + 4H
3
– +
(reduction half-reaction)
 2NO 2 + 2H2O

0 +5 +2 +4
Cu + 2NO + 4H  Cu–
3
+ 2+
+ 2NO 2 + 2H2O (redox reaction)
Cu0 Cu+2 + 2e-
N+5 + e- N+4
Example:

2Al + CuCl2 2AlCl3 + 3Cu

Al0 Al+3 + 3e-
Cu+2 + 2e- Cu
 Section 1 Oxidation and Reduction
Chapter 19

Redox Reactions and Covalent Bonds

• When hydrogen burns in chlorine, a covalent bond
forms from the sharing of two electrons.

• The pair of electrons is more strongly attracted to

the chlorine atom because of its higher
electronegativity. 0 0 +1 –1
H2 + Cl2  2HCl

• Neither atom has totally lost or totally gained any

electrons.(unequal sharing of electrons due to the
difference in the electronegativity)
 Section 1 Oxidation and Reduction
Chapter 19

Particle Model for a Redox Reaction

End of ch19.1 show