(Answered):Virtual Lab Exploring Oxidation Reduction Reactions . . . .

Question Description

Oxidation and reduction reactions have been know for millennia but were not understood until the 17th century. The terms come from metallurgy. Most metals do not naturally exist in their metallic forms (except gold and silver), but were extracted from rocks and minerals. As such the ores were ‘reduced’ to a small amount of metal from a large amount of ore. It was noted that the metals would react with oxygen and form a new substance and hence were oxidized.

We now understand that redox (oxidation reduction) reactions involve the transfer of electrons. Consider, for instance, the reaction