These reactions are frequently called redox reactions. A subtlety deserving your close attention is that the oxidizing agent in the example, oxygen is reduced, whereas the reducing agent in the example, aluminum is oxidized.
Because chemists have defined oxidation in terms of electron transfer, it is quite unnecessary for redox reactions to have oxygen as the oxidizing agent. Study the next example of metallic zinc reacting with chlorine gas to form zinc chloride:. The oxidizing agent that gains electrons is chlorine, and the reducing agent that loses electrons is zinc. A valuable generalization is that the nonmetals in the upper right region of the periodic table are strong oxidizing agents.
The metals in their elemental state are strong reducing agents, as is hydrogen gas. Previous Quiz Oxidation Numbers. Ask Question. Asked 8 years, 5 months ago. Active 3 months ago. Viewed k times. Improve this question. ManishEarth Cameron Cameron 25 1 1 gold badge 1 1 silver badge 2 2 bronze badges.
Also, how familiar are you with the basics of chemical bonding, electron configurations, etc.? I think most answers would have to presuppose an understanding of those things, and based on the phrasing of your question, I suspect you might be best served by just studying a general chemistry textbook Oxtoby's is probably the most rigorous I've come across.
The format strings look good, but they're showing verbatim in my Chrome browser. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. There isn't any other way apart from balancing the equation and figuring it out from there. Asker Asker 2, 7 7 gold badges 19 19 silver badges 44 44 bronze badges. Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile. Version labels for answers.
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