Question

Which is the strongest oxidizing agent?

Answer 1

Oxidizing agent:

• The reagent increases the oxidation number of an element in the substance and this is also known as an oxidant.
• These are the acceptors of the electrons.
• For example, Chlorine acts as an oxidizing agent because it accepts the electrons from the Sodium. The reaction mechanism between the Sodium and Chloride to produce salt is shown below:

$2\mathrm{Na}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+{\mathrm{Cl}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)\to 2\mathrm{NaCl}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)$

Strongest oxidizing agent:

• Fluorine is the strongest oxidizing agent because it is the strongest oxidant among all the elements.
• When it reacts with gold and ice then it shows strong oxidizing properties even at $-100°\mathrm{C}$.
• It is so reactive or partially due to its instability with the decay rate of $4\raisebox{1ex}{$°$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$°$}\right.$ per day even at the cryogenic temperature.
• It can actually oxidize water into Oxygen which is highly charged with the ozone. The addition of Hydrogen and Fluorine would explode in dark or cold conditions. The reaction is presented below: $2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)+2{\mathrm{F}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)\to 4\mathrm{HF}\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)$
• It has the highest standard electrode potential ($2.87\mathrm{V}$), which indicates that it has the highest electronegativity and has a strong tendency to accept electrons as compared to the others. ${\mathrm{F}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+2{\mathrm{e}}^{-}\rightleftharpoons 2{\mathrm{F}}^{-}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)$
• It has a low bond dissociation enthalpy with low energy of atomization or separation because of Vander-Waals force and smaller size.