How Form 2220 Reduction 2023-2024

In this video, we're going to talk about oxidizing agents and reducing agents. We're going to learn what they are, what they do, and how to identify them in chemical equations. So, if we're talking about oxidizing agents and reducing agents, let's just refresh our memory about what oxidation and reduction are. Okay, so oxidation is a loss of electrons, and reduction is a gain of electrons. I have a diagram here, and we've got two things, A and B. Maybe their atoms leave their compounds, and there are electrons moving from A to B. Okay, so A here is losing electrons, which means that A is being oxidized. B, over here, is gaining electrons, which means that B is being reduced. Okay, so that's oxidation and reduction. But here, we're talking about agents, oxidizing and reducing agents. So, what's an agent? Well, the word has a bunch of different meanings, but in this situation, an agent makes something happen. Okay, think of like the agent for a movie star, right? The help the actor get jobs, they help the actor get into movies. An agent makes things happen for that movie star. Okay, and that's exactly what oxidizing and reducing agents do. They make stuff happen. An oxidizing agent makes oxidation happen. A reducing agent makes reduction happen. Okay, so let's talk about the things that something would have to do to make oxidation happen, to make reduction happen. Let's start here with oxidation. What does something have to do to make oxidation? Well, take a look at this diagram here. We have A, it's being oxidized. It's losing these electrons. But it's really important to remember that atoms can't just throw away electrons. They can't just chuck them into space. An atom can only get rid of electrons...