Given the reaction below, which is the reduced substance?

Mg + Cl_2 -> Mg^(2+) + 2Cl^-

1 Answer
anor277
Jun 10, 2017

The chlorine molecule is REDUCED........

Explanation:

And we may represent this by the reduction reaction in which electrons appear as stoichiometric reagents........

Cl_2+2e^(-) rarr2Cl^(-) (i)

Zerovalent chlorine gas, stackrel(0)Cl_2 is reduced to stackrel(-I)Cl^(-)

And of course, for every reduction, for every electron GAIN, there must be a corresponding oxidation, an electron loss. And metals, especially alkali and alkaline earth metals, are typically oxidized............

MgrarrMg^(2+) + 2e^(-) (ii)

And for the final reaction we SUM the individual oxidation and reduction reactions in such a way that electrons DO NOT appear in the final reaction. Here it is simply (i) + (ii), which give us.......

Mg+Cl_2+cancel(2e^(-))rarrMg^(2+) + 2Cl^(-) + cancel(2e^(-))

i.e. Mg+Cl_2rarrMg^(2+) + 2Cl^(-)

Related questions
See all questions in Oxidation and Reduction Reactions
Impact of this question
2775 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License