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Lecture

Redox Reactions: Balancing and Terminology

In course

CH-160(en): Advanced general chemistry (english)

This course aims to teach essential notions of the structure of matter, chemical equilibria and reactivity. Classes and exercises provide the means to analyze and solve, by reasoning and calculation, novel problems of geeneral chemistry. ...

Description

This lecture covers redox reactions, where oxidation and reduction occur simultaneously. It explains the roles of reducing and oxidizing agents, half reactions, redox couples, and how to balance redox reactions in both acidic and basic solutions. The instructor also introduces chemical thermodynamics, focusing on energy changes in chemical reactions and predicting spontaneity.

Instructors (2)

Samuel Terrettaz

Thomas Rizzo

EDUCATION Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1983 B.S., Chemistry, cum laude, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1978 ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS Dean, Faculty of Basic Sciences, EPFL, 2004-present Head, Department of Chemistry, EPFL, 1997-2004 Professor of Chemistry, EPFL, 1994-present Professor of Chemistry, University of Rochester, 1993-1994 Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Rochester, 1986-1992 Research Associate, The James Franck Institute, University of Chicago, 1984-1986

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Thermodynamics: Statistical mechanics

Related concepts (32)

Redox

Redox (ˈrɛdɒks , ˈriːdɒks , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a decrease in the oxidation state. There are two classes of redox reactions: Electron-transfer – Only one (usually) electron flows from the atom being oxidized to the atom that is reduced. This type of redox reaction is often discussed in terms of redox couples and electrode potentials.

Chemical reaction

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the positions of electrons in the forming and breaking of chemical bonds between atoms, with no change to the nuclei (no change to the elements present), and can often be described by a chemical equation. Nuclear chemistry is a sub-discipline of chemistry that involves the chemical reactions of unstable and radioactive elements where both electronic and nuclear changes can occur.

Half-reaction

In chemistry, a half reaction (or half-cell reaction) is either the oxidation or reduction reaction component of a redox reaction. A half reaction is obtained by considering the change in oxidation states of individual substances involved in the redox reaction. Often, the concept of half reactions is used to describe what occurs in an electrochemical cell, such as a Galvanic cell battery. Half reactions can be written to describe both the metal undergoing oxidation (known as the anode) and the metal undergoing reduction (known as the cathode).

Chemical thermodynamics

Chemical thermodynamics is the study of the interrelation of heat and work with chemical reactions or with physical changes of state within the confines of the laws of thermodynamics. Chemical thermodynamics involves not only laboratory measurements of various thermodynamic properties, but also the application of mathematical methods to the study of chemical questions and the spontaneity of processes. The structure of chemical thermodynamics is based on the first two laws of thermodynamics.

Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of thermodynamics which convey a quantitative description using measurable macroscopic physical quantities, but may be explained in terms of microscopic constituents by statistical mechanics.

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