barb216 Greetings I'll be glad to receive your help In the following reaction: CH3CH2OH + O2 = CH3COOH + H2O Who is the oxidized , who is reduced and why? thanks in advance
Admin Here's how to solve this using the tools on ChemicalAid.com: Balance the equation: https://www.chemicalaid.com/tools/equationbalancer.php?equation=CH3CH2OH+%2B+O2+%3D+H2O+%2B+CH3COOH Get the oxidation numbers of each element (links are provided in the reaction section for most elements) https://www.chemicalaid.com/tools/oxidationnumber.php?compound=CH3CH2OH https://www.chemicalaid.com/tools/oxidationnumber.php?compound=O2 https://www.chemicalaid.com/tools/oxidationnumber.php?compound=H2O https://www.chemicalaid.com/tools/oxidationnumber.php?compound=CH3COOH You'll see that one of the carbon goes from -1 to +3 (lost electrons) and one of the oxygen goes from +0 to -2 (gained electrons). Therefore, carbon is oxidized, while oxygen is reduced.
Admin CelinaRosalesCosme Is there some larger context around the question (it sounds like its from some kind of homework assignment)? It seems like it might be two different reactions?