Oxidising and reducing agents

Table of Contents

1. Oxidising agents and reducing agents
2. Redox reactions
   1. Oxidation numbers
3. Oxidising agents and reducing agents
   1. Oxidants and reductants
   2. Common oxidants and reductants
4. Half-equations
   1. Writing half-equations
   2. Combining half-equations
5. Reduction potentials
   1. Source of reduction potentials
   2. Using standard electrode potentials
   3. Predicting reaction tendencies
6. Redox reactions in action

1. Additional resources:
   1. Glossary
   2. Print content

Half-equations

You will remember half-equations from Stage 2 Chemistry, and you may have already used them in your work on oxidation and reduction in this topic. In this section we will revise how they are used, and then apply the concept of half-equations to some new reactions.

Download a copy of the list of half-equations from the data sheet.

This list gives you most of the half-equations that you will be using in Stage 3 Chemistry, but it is still important that you are able to construct half-equations for reactions that are not included in this list. The next section revises your skills in this area.