When iron pipes come in contact with water and oxygen, iron transfers electrons to the oxygen molecules. Which statement about the reactants is correct?(1 point)

Question

When iron pipes come in contact with water and oxygen, iron transfers electrons to the oxygen molecules. Which statement about the reactants is correct?(1 point)
Responses

Iron is reduced, and oxygen is oxidized.
Iron is reduced, and oxygen is oxidized.

Oxygen is reduced, and iron is oxidized.
Oxygen is reduced, and iron is oxidized.

Iron is the oxidizing agent.
Iron is the oxidizing agent.

Oxygen is the reducing agent.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

In the reaction where iron comes into contact with water and oxygen, iron undergoes oxidation by losing electrons, whereas oxygen undergoes reduction by gaining those electrons.

The correct answer is:

Oxygen is reduced, and iron is oxidized.

This means that iron is oxidized (loses electrons) and oxygen is reduced (gains electrons). Therefore, iron is the reducing agent, and oxygen is the oxidizing agent.