Question

Due to______ (oxidizing/reducing) property of CO, it is extensively used in the extraction process of iron.

Answer 1

• Carbon monoxide (CO) is a good reducing agent used in the metal extraction process where it helps in the removal of oxygen from the metal oxides and subsequently reduces them to their respective metals.
• Likewise, iron (Fe) is extracted from iron (III) oxide (Fe₂O₃) where the oxide is reduced by using carbon monoxide and it results in the formation of iron, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) is also evolved in the process.

The chemical reaction for the same is given as;

$\underset{\mathrm{Iron}\left(\mathrm{III}\right)\hspace{0.17em}\mathrm{oxide}}{{\mathrm{Fe}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{carbon}\mathrm{monoxide}}{3\mathrm{CO}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Iron}}{2\mathrm{Fe}(\mathrm{I}})+\underset{\mathrm{carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{3{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$

Thus, due to the reducing property of CO, it is extensively used in the extraction process of iron.