Oxidation-reduction: Difference between revisions
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Originally chemists viewed '''oxidation''' as a class of chemical reactions in which a chemical species (e.g., | Originally chemists viewed '''oxidation''' as a class of chemical reactions in which a chemical species (e.g., a chemical element) reacts with oxygen to form an oxygen-containing product referred to as an 'oxide'. In modern terminology, chemists would describe that as the chemical species reacting with an oxygen molecule (O<sub>2</sub>) such that it combines with an atom of oxygen (O) to form an oxygen-containing product, as when hydrogen (H<sub>2</sub>) reacts with O<sub>2</sub> to form the oxygen-containing product, H<sub>2</sub>O, namely water: | ||
::2H<sub>2</sub> + O<sub>2</sub> → 2H<sub>2</sub>O | ::2H<sub>2</sub> + O<sub>2</sub> → 2H<sub>2</sub>O | ||
In that reaction, each molecular pair of hydrogen atoms | In that reaction, each molecular pair of hydrogen atoms has been 'oxidized' by gaining an oxygen atom. | ||
The 'Father of Chemistry', Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), in his ''Elements of Chemistry'' (originally published in French in 1789), writes of oxidation in relation to the products formed when metals (e.g., iron) are exposed to air: | The 'Father of Chemistry', Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), in his ''Elements of Chemistry'' (originally published in French in 1789), writes of oxidation in relation to the products formed when metals (e.g., iron) are exposed to air: | ||
Revision as of 01:42, 16 February 2010
Originally chemists viewed oxidation as a class of chemical reactions in which a chemical species (e.g., a chemical element) reacts with oxygen to form an oxygen-containing product referred to as an 'oxide'. In modern terminology, chemists would describe that as the chemical species reacting with an oxygen molecule (O2) such that it combines with an atom of oxygen (O) to form an oxygen-containing product, as when hydrogen (H2) reacts with O2 to form the oxygen-containing product, H2O, namely water:
- 2H2 + O2 → 2H2O
In that reaction, each molecular pair of hydrogen atoms has been 'oxidized' by gaining an oxygen atom.
The 'Father of Chemistry', Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), in his Elements of Chemistry (originally published in French in 1789), writes of oxidation in relation to the products formed when metals (e.g., iron) are exposed to air:
The term oxidation, or calcination, is chiefly used to signify the process by which metals exposed to a certain degree of heat are converted to oxides, by absorbing oxygen from the air.[1]
Lavoisier's work revealed the common link between the air-requiring processes of burning (combustion), rusting and other such so-called calcinations of metals, and breathing (respiration) by animals, namely the requirement for the oxygen component of air and the chemical reaction of oxidation.
References
- ↑ Antoine Laurant Lavoisier (1799). Elements of Chemistry: In a new systematic order, containing all the modern discoveries, illustrated with thirteen copperplates, 4th Edition, translated by Robert Kerr. Google Books free full-text.