Question

(a) Give an example of an oxidation reaction.
(b) Is oxidation an exothermic or an endothermic reaction?
(c) Explain, by giving an example, how oxidation and reduction proceed side by side.

Answer 1

(a) Burning of magnesium ribbon in a dazzling flame of air (i.e., oxygen) is an oxidation reaction.

The chemical reaction is given below:

2Mg + O₂ → 2MgO

(b) Most of the oxidation reactions are exothermic reactions because energy is released during oxidation.

Example: C (s) + O₂ (g) → CO₂ (g)

(c) It can be explained by the following example:

CuO + H₂ → Cu + H₂O

In this reaction, CuO gets reduced to Cu by losing oxygen and H₂ gets oxidised to H₂O by gaining oxygen. Hence, oxidation and reduction proceed side by side.