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Question: Following reactions take place during extraction of gold. \(4 \mathrm { Au } + 8 \mathrm { CN } ^ {...

Following reactions take place during extraction of gold.

4Au+8CN−+2H2O+O2→4[Au(CN)2]−+4OH−4 \mathrm { Au } + 8 \mathrm { CN } ^ { - } + 2 \mathrm { H } _ { 2 } \mathrm { O } + \mathrm { O } _ { 2 } \rightarrow 4 \left[ \mathrm { Au } ( \mathrm { CN } ) _ { 2 } \right] ^ { - } + 4 \mathrm { OH } ^ { - } 2[Au(CN)2]−+Zn→2Au+[Zn(CN)4]2−2 \left[ \mathrm { Au } ( \mathrm { CN } ) _ { 2 } \right] ^ { - } + \mathrm { Zn } \rightarrow 2 \mathrm { Au } + \left[ \mathrm { Zn } ( \mathrm { CN } ) _ { 4 } \right] ^ { 2 - }

Zinc in the extraction of gold acts as a/an

A

Oxidising agent

B

Flux

C

Reducing agent

D

Decomposing agent

Answer

Reducing agent

Explanation

Solution

Zn acts as a reducing agent which reduces[Au(CN)2]−\left[ \mathrm { Au } ( \mathrm { CN } ) _ { 2 } \right] ^ { - } to Au.