What does oxidizing mean in science?

1 Answer
anor277
Sep 4, 2017

It means liable to cause an oxidation reaction......

Explanation:

And the two most oxidizing species are F_2 and O_2...and of course the act of oxidation these species are reduced to F^- and O^(2-) ions..........

Oxidation involves the formal loss of electrons.....

Fe rarrFe^(3+) + 3e^(-) (i)

And this is a way to quantify the reaction with say dioxygen......

And for every oxidation there is a corresponding REDUCTION, here of an OXIDIZING agent, a species that accepts electrons......

O_2+4e^(-) rarr 2O^(2-) (ii)

And so we take 4xx(i) + 3xx(ii) to eliminate the electrons......

4Fe +3O_2rarr2Fe_2O_3

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