For the following redox reaction state the oxidation number...

For the following REDOX reaction, state the oxidation number for each element in the reaction. State which element is being oxidized and which element is being reduced, as well as how you know. State which element is the oxidizing agent and which element is the reducing agent, as well as how you know. MnO2 + H2C2O4 + H2SO4 --> MnSO4 + CO2 + H2O

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Transcript

0:00 All right.

00:01 So we have a redox reaction here, and we want to determine what's oxidized, what's reduced, and which is the oxidizing and reducing agents.

00:09 So in order to do that, well, let's find the oxidation numbers of everything.

00:13 So oxygen and compounds, except one with fluorine, is always minus two.

00:18 So i'm going to write minus two above all of the oxygens.

00:27 Hydrogen in compounds is usually plus one.

00:30 So i'm going to go ahead and write that as well.

00:31 Plus one.

00:33 Plus one.

00:35 And so.

00:35 Plus one.

00:37 Now, above it in red, i'm going to write the total based on the number of oxygen hydrogen atoms.

00:43 So if there's two oxygen atoms and each is minus two, that's a total of minus four.

00:48 This is two times plus one is plus two.

00:52 Four times minus two is minus two.

00:55 This is minus eight.

00:58 You'll see why i'm doing this in a second.

01:01 Minus eight, minus four, plus two, minus two.

01:08 Now, the sum of the oxidation numbers in a compound has to be zero.

01:12 So if we know some of them, the ones that are variable, like transition metals like manganese, carbon tons to be variable and so on, we can just deduce them by addition and subtraction...

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