Question

Differentiate between the following terms.

a) Species reduced versus the reducing agent

b) Species oxidized versus the oxidizing agent

c) Oxidation state versus actual charge

Short answer

a) The reducing agent loses electrons and hence gets oxidized. Reduction is the process of gaining electrons.

b) The oxidizing agent itself gets reduced as it accepts electrons. The species oxidized is the one which loses electrons.

c) The oxidation state is different from the actual charge in covalent compounds but the same in ionic compounds.

Step-by-step solution

a) Species reduced versus the agent

Reduction is the process of gaining electrons. The species reduced is one which gains electrons from another species. The species from which it gains electrons is the reducing agent. So, the reducing agent loses electrons and hence gets oxidized.

b) Species oxidized versus the oxidizing agent

Oxidation is the process of losing or donating electrons. The species oxidized donates its electrons in the process of oxidation. The species which accepts electrons is the oxidizing agent. The oxidizing agent oxidizes the species to be oxidized by accepting electrons from that species. The oxidizing agent itself gets reduced as it accepts electrons.

c) Oxidation state versus actual charge

The oxidation state is equal to the actual charge in certain cases. When we consider a binary ionic compound, the actual charge on the ions is equal to the oxidation states.

In the case of covalent compounds, since covalent compounds do not possess actual charges, they are assigned oxidation states assuming that the elements were held together by ionic bonds. This is only in the cases where the covalent compound contains two different elements. Other covalent compounds have elements assigned zero oxidation states.

So, the oxidation state is different from the actual charge in covalent compounds but the same in ionic compounds.