6M.13

[Samantha Low 3D]

In 6M.13, we are asked to identify the reactions with K > 1 in the following list and, for each such reaction, identify the oxidizing agent and calculate the standard cell potential.

The solutions manual has no oxidation agent for reactions that don't favor products.
For example, part (b)since E(Ce4+/Ce3+) > E(MnO4-/Mn2+), reaction does not favor products vs. part (a) since E(Cl2,Cl-) > E(Br2,Br-), reaction favors products. Cl2 is the oxidizing agent.

Does this mean that there is no oxidation agent for reactions that don't favor products? Thank you!

[Anil Chaganti 3L]

For reactions that do not favor products, E is less than zero. This means that the reaction is not spontaneous, as deltaG=-nFE shows us that a positive delta G (negative E) produces a value greater than zero. As we know from thermodynamics, this means that the reaction does not favor products.

[Kelly Yun 2I]

If the equation represents a redox reaction, then I cannot see why there would not be an oxidizing agent so I am not sure why the solution does not include that for reactions that don't favor products...

[Angelica Soriano 3L]

I think that there is always a reducing and oxidizing agent in a redox reaction. The reason why they didn't give the oxidizing agent is because the question stated to only give the oxidizing agent for reactions with K>1. The other reactions in the problem didn't favor products (K<1), so the question did not ask for us to state what is the oxidizing agent.