Tell for each of the following substances whether the oxidation n...

Question

Tell for each of the following substances whether the oxidation number increases or decreases in a redox reaction.
(a) An oxidizing agent 
(b) A reducing agent 
(c) A substance undergoing oxidation 
(d) A substance undergoing reduction

Accepted Answer

Hello everyone today we are being asked to determine which of the following statements is true. And it looks like each of these statements are asking us to determine what it means when something is oxidized and what it means when something is reduced. And so there's a pneumonic that I like to use known as oil rig and what it stands for is oxidation is losing. So we're gonna say oxidation is losing and in this case losing electrons and reduction right out here is gaining and once again gaining electrons. And so therefore that makes our answer be when a substance is oxidized, it loses electrons. But when the substance is reduced it gains electrons. I hope this helped and until next time.

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