Given the following balanced equation: 2Na + Cl2 ---> 2NaCl
A.List each element on the reactant side and each element on the product side and assign the correct oxidation number to each.
B.Identify which element is oxidized in the reaction and which is reduced. C.Identify the oxidizing agent in this reaction.
Am I doing this right?
A. Reactant
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Element(Na) Reactant(2) Product(2)
Element(Cl) Reactant(2) Product(1)
{Na and Cl are different element so I’m guessing there Reactant and Products are different from each other’s}
B. Oxidizing and Reduced
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2Na+Cl2———>2NaCl
^ ^
| |
(Oxidized) (Reduced)
{Because at first it has a 2 then it gets taken away}
C. The Oxidizing Agent
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2Na? or Na?
{Because it didn’t get reduced so I’m guessing it’s 2Na or Na}
Side note: I’m not good at chemistry but at least I tried. Can you help me if I’m wrong please?
For B) I was talking about the Cl’s lol the arrows had moved it the wrong place (I figured that would happen
2Na + Cl2 ---> 2NaCl
Na went from a state of zero, to a +1: it lost an electron, oxidized
Cl went from a state of zero, to a -1: it gained electron, reduced.
A. To find the oxidation numbers of each element in the equation, we need to assign oxidation numbers to each individual element.
On the reactant side:
- Sodium (Na) is a Group 1 element, so it has a +1 oxidation number.
- Chlorine (Cl2) is a diatomic molecule, and each chlorine atom has an oxidation number of 0.
On the product side:
- Sodium chloride (NaCl) is an ionic compound, and sodium (Na) always has an oxidation number of +1 in ionic compounds.
- Chlorine (Cl) in NaCl has an oxidation number of -1 because it gains an electron to fill its valence shell.
B. By comparing the oxidation numbers before and after the reaction, we can determine which element is oxidized and which is reduced.
In this reaction, chlorine (Cl2) is reduced from an oxidation number of 0 to -1 in NaCl. Reduction involves a gain of electrons, so chlorine is reduced.
Sodium (Na) is oxidized from an oxidation number of 0 to +1 in NaCl. Oxidation involves a loss of electrons, so sodium is oxidized.
C. The oxidizing agent is the substance that causes oxidation by accepting electrons from another substance (being reduced itself). In this reaction, the oxidizing agent is chlorine (Cl2) because it accepts electrons from sodium (Na) and gets reduced from 0 to -1.