BRIEF CONTENTS:-

I. Oxidation and Reduction Reaction (in terms of loss/gain of oxygen/hydrogen or loss/gain

electropositive/electronegative element)
II. Oxidation-reduction as electron transfer reactions
III. Concept of Oxidizing agent and Reducing agent
IV. Concept of Oxidation number
V. Rules for O.N Calculation
VI. Stock Notation
VII. The Paradox of Fractional Oxidation Number – concept of Oxidation State
VIII.Calculation of O.N with the help of structure (Special case of Co-ordinate bond)
IX. Oxidation vs Valency
X. Types of Redox Reactions
XI. Disproportionation and comproportionation reaction
XII. Balancing of Redox Reactions- Oxidation Number Method & Ion exchange method (Half cell reaction method)
XIII. Relation between Oxidation Number/State and Acid Strength
XIV.EXERCISE QUESTIONS

DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 1
I. Oxidation and Reduction Reaction (in terms of loss/gain of oxygen/hydrogen or loss/gain electropositive/electronegative
element) :
• OXIDATION is defined as addition of oxygen or electronegative element to a substance or removal of
hydrogen/electropositive element from a substance.

• Reduction is defined as removal of oxygen/electronegative element from a substance or addition of

hydrogen/electropositive element to a substance. The term reduction comes from the Latin meaning “to lead back”.

DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 2
II. Oxidation-reduction as electron transfer reactions : Oxidation is a process in which one or more electrons are lost by one
reactant while reduction is a process in which one or more electrons are gained by another reactant.
- The total number of electrons lost by one substance is always the same as the
total number gained by the other. If this were not true, electrons would appear
as a product of the overall reaction, this is never observed.

III. Concept of Oxidizing agent and Reducing agent :

Oxidation : loss of electrons by any species
Reduction : gain of electrons by any species
Oxidizing Agent : acceptor of electrons (oxidant)
Reducing agent : donor of electrons (reductant)

• Oxidizing agent : A substance that accepts electrons and causes the other substance to lose electrons and get oxidized (that
itself gets reduced)
• Reducing agent : A substance that donates electrons and causes the other substance to gain electrons and get reduced
(that itself gets oxidized). DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 3
IV. Concept of Oxidation number : The oxidation number of an atom in a substance is defined as the actual charge of the atom
if it exists as a monoatomic ion or a hypothetical charge assigned to the atom in the substance according to some accepted
rules.

• RULES :-

DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 4
DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 5
DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 6
VI. Stock Notation :

VII. The Paradox of Fractional Oxidation Number – concept of Oxidation State :

DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 7
 VIII. Calculation of O.N with the help of structure

DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 8
DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 9
DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 10
 IX. Oxidation vs Valency :

X. Types of Redox Reactions

DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 11
DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 12
 XI. Disproportionation and comproportionation reaction

XII. Balancing of Redox Reactions- Oxidation Number Method & Ion exchange method (Half cell reaction method)

DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 13
 BALANCED IN ACIDIC MEDIUM

O.N METHOD

BALANCED IN BASIC MEDIUM DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 14

ION-EXCHANGE METHOD IN ACIDIC MEDIUM ION-EXCHANGE METHOD IN BASIC MEDIUM

DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 15
XIII. Relation between Oxidation Number/State and Acid Strength : As the oxidation number of the central atom becomes
larger, the acidity of the molecule increases. An atom becomes more electronegative as the oxidation number increases.

EXERCISE QUESTIONS
Q1) Calculate the Oxidation Number/Oxidation State of the Underlined element :
−𝟐
𝐂𝐫𝟐 𝐎−𝟐 −𝟐
𝟕 , 𝐌𝐧𝐎𝟒 , 𝐒𝟐 𝐎𝟑 , 𝐂𝐫𝐎𝟓 , 𝐍𝐚𝟐 𝐒𝟒 𝐎𝟔 , 𝐊𝐌𝐧𝐎𝟒 , 𝐇𝟐 𝐒𝐎𝟓 , 𝐂𝐇𝟐 𝐂𝐥𝟐 , 𝐍𝟑 𝐇, 𝐂𝟔 𝐇𝟏𝟐 𝐎𝟔 , 𝐍𝐇𝟒 𝐍𝐎𝟑 , 𝐍𝐚𝟐 𝐒𝟐 , 𝐅𝐞 𝐂𝐍 𝟔
−𝟒

Q2) Balance the equations given below in both Acidic/Basic medium by using O.N Method and Ion-exchange method :-
(i) 𝐅𝐞+𝟐 + 𝐌𝐧𝐎− 𝟒 → 𝐅𝐞
+𝟑 + 𝟐𝐌𝐧+𝟐
(viii) 𝐀𝐬𝐎−𝟑 − −𝟑
𝟑 + 𝐌𝐧𝐎𝟒 → 𝐀𝐬𝐎𝟒 + 𝐌𝐧𝐎𝟐
(ii) 𝐈𝟐 + 𝐒𝟐 𝐎−𝟐 −
𝟑 → 𝐈 + 𝐒𝟒 𝐎𝟔
−𝟐
(ix) 𝐈𝐎− −
𝟒 + 𝐈 → 𝐈𝟐
(iii) 𝐂𝟔 𝐇𝟓 𝐂𝐇𝐎 + 𝐂𝐫𝟐 𝐎−𝟐𝟕 → 𝐂𝟔 𝐇𝟓 𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐇 + 𝐂𝐫
+𝟑 (x) 𝐌𝐧𝐎−𝟐 −
𝟒 → 𝐌𝐧𝐎𝟒 + 𝐌𝐧𝐎𝟐
(iv) 𝐈𝟐 → 𝐈 − + 𝐈𝐎−𝟑
(v) 𝐌𝐧𝐎𝟒 + 𝐒𝟐 𝐎−𝟐
−
𝟑 → 𝐌𝐧𝐎𝟐 + 𝐒𝐎𝟒
−𝟐

(vi) 𝐂𝐥𝐎− + 𝐁𝐫 − → 𝐁𝐫𝐎− 𝟑 + 𝐂𝐥

−

(vii) 𝐌𝐧𝐎− −𝟐
𝟒 + 𝐂𝟐 𝐎𝟒 → 𝐌𝐧
+𝟐 + 𝐂𝐎
𝟐 DPS-MIS, FIITJEE 16