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Oxidation-Reduction Reactions Made Simple






Before you get started you must first know some deffinitions. Learn these now and be less confused later.

Oxidation: Loss of electrons, or gain of oxygen.

Reduction: Gain of electrons, or loss of oxygen.




I've seen many questions about how sulfer can be an oxidiser in the zinc sulfer rocket fuel. This semes simple enough so I will explain that. There is much more to redox reactions than I have here. If you would like to know more find a chemistry book at you local library.


In reactions between a metal( Zn) and a non metal( S) electrons are transfered from the atoms of the metal to the atoms of the non- metal.

The substance that donates electrons is called the reducing agent. By losing electrons, Zn reduces S.

The substance that gains electrons is called a oxidizing agent. By S gaining electrons in the redox reaction the S oxidises the Zn.

This is a very simplefied way of explaining Redox. If you would like to know more, get a chemistry book from you library, as I said before.


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