Question

Differentiate between Oxidation and Reduction

Answer 1

Oxidation and Reduction

Oxidation	Reduction
When a substance adds oxygen to it or eliminates hydrogen from it, then the substance is oxidized. this process is called oxidation.	When a substance adds hydrogen to it or eliminates oxygen from it, then the substance is reduced. this process is called reduction.
Substances that bring about oxidation are known as oxidizing agents.	Substances that bring about reduction are known as reducing agents.
for example, consider the reaction ,$$\begin{gathered} \mathrm{CuO}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)\to \mathrm{Cu}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right) \\ \underset{\mathrm{Addition}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{oxygen}:\mathrm{oxidation}}{\to } \end{gathered}$$ H2 has added oxygen to it from H2O. Thus, H2 has been oxidized to H2O	for example, consider the reaction ,$$\begin{gathered} \stackrel{\mathrm{Removal}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{oxygen}:\mathrm{reduction}}{\to } \\ \mathrm{CuO}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)\to \mathrm{Cu}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right) \end{gathered}$$ CuO has eliminated oxygen from it to Cu. so we can say that CuO has been reduced to Cu
Oxidation occurs at anode	Reduction occurs at cathode