Thursday, 24 July 2014

(O level Chem) Are reactions of acids redox reactions?

Acids and Alkalis is one of the easiest chapters to many students. The basic thing is that acids are substances that produce protons H+(aq) or hydroxonium ions H3O+ when dissolved in water, not in alcohol or any other solvents. Do get the habit of writing “H+(aq)” instead of just “H+” because the proton is simply too unstable by itself. Because the concentration of H+(aq) in the acidic solutions is greater than the concentration of OH-(aq), acidic solutions turn blue litmus to red, and yellow methyl orange to red. They have a pH (= -lg [H+]) of less than 7.

The properties of acids are due to their protons

H+(aq) ions are also responsible for the various properties of acids. They combine with OH-(aq) in alkalis to produce water. This gives the general equation, acid + alkali --> salt + water, that's a neutralization. Its ionic equation is H+(aq) + OH-(aq) --> H2O(l). Note that the salt, which is soluble, don't appear in the ionic equation because they are spectator ions.

Acids can also be neutralized by carbonates. Carbonates are compounds that contain the ion CO32-. Carbonates are either soluble such as Na2CO3 (Remember that all sodium compounds are soluble.) or insoluble such as CaCO3 (in limestone) and CuCO3. Effervescence is observed during the neutralization of an acid by a carbonate. The colorless gas gives a white precipitate with limewater indicating that it's carbon dioxide. The general equation is acid + carbonate --> salt water + carbon dioxide. The ionic equation is H+(aq) + CO32-(aq) --> H2O(l) + CO2(g).

Acids also corrode metals producing a colorless and odorless gas that extinguishes a burning splint with a “pop” sound. The general equation for the reaction is acid + metal --> salt + hydrogen. If an acid reacts with zinc, then the ionic equation is Zn(s) + H+(aq) --> Zn2+(aq) + H2(g). This is called a displacement reaction because the hydrogen is displaced by the metal. Remember, however, that dilute HCl and H2SO4 do not react with copper which is unreactive.

So, are the above three reactions redox reactions? To identify a redox reaction, we look for whether there are oxidation and reduction occurring in the reaction. The best way is to look for changes in oxidation states which are charges of atoms. When there's an increase in oxidation state, we say oxidation has occurred. When there's a decrease in oxidation state, we say reduction has occurred. A redox reaction has to have both oxidation and reduction occurring simultaneously. In the following, the oxidation states of atoms are already calculated for you. You've got to know how to calculate them. Only one of the reactions is a redox reaction. Which one? 



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