Which of the following are oxidizing agents ?

Question

a) H2


b) Cl2


c) I2


d) MnO4-


e) C

Answer 1

a) hydrogen can be a reducing agent or oxidising agent dependent on what it reacts with, if it reacts with magnesium it form magnesium hydride, hydrogen is being reduced and therefore acting as an oxidising agent.. If it forms a hydride then it is an oxidising agent, otherwise no.

b) chlorine in majority of cases is being reduced and therefore acting as an oxidising agent, especially if it forms a chloride.

c) Iodine in majority of cases is being reduced and therefore acting as an oxidising agent, especially if it forms a iodide.

d) magnate in majority of aces is being reduced and therefore acting as an oxidising agent. The Mn is +7 can be converted to Mn+2 or Mn+4 in MnO2, so it is an oxidizing agent

e) In majority cases carbon is a reducing agent, but if it reacts with aluminium it can form aluminium carbide and in this case it will be an oxidising agent.

The answer to this question are dependent on what the species are reacting with and under what thermodynamic conditions.

Answer 2

Best Oxidizing Agents

Answer 3

an oxidizing agent will itself be reduced in the redox reaction

so if you can convert the given into something related to the given with a more negative oxidation number (meaning it was reduced), then that substance can be an oxidizing agent

a) H2 can be converted to H-1, so it is an oxidizing agent

b) Cl2 can be converted to Cl-1, so it is an oxidizing agent

c) I2 can be converted to I-1, so it is an oxidizing agent

d) MnO4-1 where the Mn is +7 can be converted to Mn+2 or Mn+4 in MnO2, so it is an oxidizing agent

e) C can not be converted into any relative with a more negative oxidation state, so it is not and oxidizing agent

note: just because something CAN be an oxidizing agent, does NOT mean it is a GOOD oxidizing agent - that is a totally different question - in the givens above, the MnO4-1 is the best or strongest oxidizing agent

Answer 4

d