Dr. Bob222,
Please see my additional posts on Jan 20 at 2:26pm and Jan 21 at 12:33 am. This is in reference to the redox reactions:
1) Fe goes from +2 to +3, and S goes from -2 to +6. They both appear to be oxidized because they increased.
Is it possible that both can oxidize?
I thought one oxidized while the other reduced. Please explain.
Thank you.
4 answers
Your number are correct they both are being oxidized.
Your numbers are correct they both are being oxidized.
Not sure, but it seems that O2 is being reduced.
I tried posting a complete answer here and it wouldn't accept my response. It may have been too long. I'll try to shorten it here.
First, your original question asked ONLY about Fe and S. Both are oxidized (loss of electrons or increase in oxidation state). It didn't ask anything about oxygen which is reduced in going from zero on the left to -2 on the right (gain of electrons and decrease in oxidation state).
Note:It would be much easier to read your posts if you wrote them as H2SO4, Fe2O3, H2O, etc. All of us understand the numbers are subscripts if they appear after the symbol or in between symbols or that they are coefficients if they appear before the symbol.
Here is a site that gives information on oxidation states. If you still have questions about how to determine oxidation state please post a new question and we can go from there.
http://www.chemteam.info/Redox/Redox-Rules.html
First, your original question asked ONLY about Fe and S. Both are oxidized (loss of electrons or increase in oxidation state). It didn't ask anything about oxygen which is reduced in going from zero on the left to -2 on the right (gain of electrons and decrease in oxidation state).
Note:It would be much easier to read your posts if you wrote them as H2SO4, Fe2O3, H2O, etc. All of us understand the numbers are subscripts if they appear after the symbol or in between symbols or that they are coefficients if they appear before the symbol.
Here is a site that gives information on oxidation states. If you still have questions about how to determine oxidation state please post a new question and we can go from there.
http://www.chemteam.info/Redox/Redox-Rules.html