Question

Give one example of reduction in the following case and write a chemical equation in support of your answer.

When gain of hydrogen takes place

Answer 1

• When there is a gain of hydrogen it is known as a reduction.
• An example is the reaction that extracts iron from iron ore.

$\underset{\mathrm{iron}\mathrm{oxide}}{\underset{}{{\mathrm{Fe}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3}}+\underset{\mathrm{carbon}\mathrm{monoxide}}{\underset{}{3\mathrm{CO}}}\to 2\underset{\mathrm{iron}}{\underset{}{\mathrm{Fe}}}+\underset{\mathrm{carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{\underset{}{3{\mathrm{CO}}_2}}$

• The iron oxide undergoes reduction that is the loss of oxygen to form iron while the carbon monoxide is oxidized to form carbon dioxide.