Question

What are some examples of oxidizing agents?

Answer 1

`"Difluorine, dioxygen, permanganate ion, dichromate ion, sulfur..."`

Explanation:

Both `"difluorine, and dioxygen"` are potent oxidizing agents, and readily accept electrons to give `F^-` and `O^(2-)` ions.

Typical inorganic oxidizing agents are `"potassium permanganate,"` `KMnO_4`, and `"potassium dichromate,"` `K_2Cr_2O_7`.

The strongly coloured `KMnO_4` (deep crimson) is reduced to almost colourless `Mn^(2+)`:

`MnO_4^(-) + 8H^+ + 5e^(-) rarr Mn^(2+) + 4H_2O`

Orange dichromate is reduced to green `Cr^(3+)` ion:

`Cr_2O_7^(2-) + 14H^+ + 6e^(-)rarr 2Cr^(3+) + 7H_2O`

Both colour changes allow vizualization of the stoichiometric endpoints in titrations.