Question

How do you rank oxidizing agents?

Answer 1

As we know that reduction potential measures the tendency of a species to gain electrons and get reduced. It is found that the more the reduction potential, greater is the affinity for electrons or we can say more the species gets reduced.

Complete answer:
- As we know that the ranking of the oxidizing agents is done according to their standard reduction potentials. As we know that oxidising agents is a reactant that basically removes electrons from the other reactants.
- The oxidizing agents basically take these electrons for themselves, hence gain electrons and get reduced. We can here say that an oxidizing agent is an electron acceptor. We can see here that an oxidising agent while oxidising others gets reduced itself. From this we can say that greater the affinity towards electrons makes species strong oxidising agents.
- More the reduction potential value stronger is the oxidising agent, and we can rank the oxidising as well as reducing agents in accordance with their reduction potential values.
- Hence, we can conclude that oxidizing agents have high reduction potential and are ranked at a higher level in the table of standard reduction potentials. Whereas, reducing agents have low reduction potential. and so are ranked at lower level in the table of standard reduction potentials.

Note:
- We should not get confused in the terms oxidation and reduction process. As we know that oxidation is the process in which there is loss of electrons takes place, and oxidising agents are good acceptors of electrons.
- Whereas, reduction is the process in which gain of electrons takes place, and reducing agents are good donors of electrons.