Relation And Comprehension And Reflection: Reduction-Oxidation Reaction

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Introduction: The lesson “Reduction-Oxidation Reaction” really challenged my comprehension and computation skills in many ways. The first one is the complexity of instructions that are needed to be followed in order to arrive at the corresponding answer for a particular reaction. I basically confused the oxidation and reduction half reaction wherein I don’t know what elements will be reduced and oxidized. One of the things that I’ve confused is that I’ve mistaken the monoatomic charges for the oxidation numbers, wherein I put the monoatomic charges of their corresponding element, causing all of my answers in one of my quiz to fail horribly. Although I was able to get the concept of the oxidation reaction, I am still confused by the reduction Oxidation is defined as the loss of electrons of an atom due to the transfer of electrons to another atom. Reduction is defined as the gain of electrons of an atom due to the transferred electrons which came from the oxidation of another atom. In other words, oxidation is the opposite of reduction. Redox is considered to be one of the ways in balancing an equation. Half-reaction is obtained by considering the change in oxidation number of substances in the equation. There are also some rules to be followed in balancing equations using redox: 1. The oxidation number of hydrogen is always +1, except for hydride (-1) 2. The oxidation number of oxygen is always -2, except for peroxide (-1) 3. Free elements have an oxidation number of 0. 4. The sum of the oxidation numbers in a compound is 0 5. Polyatomic ions have a sum of oxidation numbers equal to the valence of the ion itself. Steps in solving equations using Redox: 1. Assign the oxidation numbers for the corresponding elements 2. Find the elements that undergone a change in oxidation numbers at the other side of the equation. Take note of which element’s oxidation number was reduced and which one was

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