22.1 The Nature of Oxidation and Reduction
22.1 The Nature of Oxidation and Reduction
Lesson Objectives
- Define oxidation and reduction in terms of a gain or loss of oxygen atoms.
- Define oxidation and reduction in terms of a gain or loss of electrons.
- Describe oxidation and reduction as it occurs in both ionic and molecular reactions.
- Identify the oxidizing and reducing agents in a redox reaction.
- Describe corrosion and some of the ways to prevent it or slow it down.
Lesson Vocabulary
- corrosion
- half-reaction
- oxidation
- oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction
- oxidizing agent
- reducing agent
- reduction
Check Your Understanding
Recalling Prior Knowledge
- How are cations and anions formed?
- What determines whether a covalent bond between two atoms is represented by equal sharing or unequal
sharing of the bonding electrons?
An iron shovel left out in the rain will eventually begin to rust. What is happening to the shovel, and can anything
be done to prevent it? In this lesson, you will learn about a class of reactions called oxidation-reduction reactions.
Defining Oxidation and Reduction
Oxygen is an element that has been known for centuries. In its pure elemental form, oxygen is highly reactive, and
it readily makes compounds with most other elements. It is also the most abundant element by mass in the Earth’s
crust. The class of reactions called oxidation and reduction were originally defined with respect to the element
oxygen.