Test 2 Q5

[Chloe1K]

when it asks to rank the following elements in order of increasing reducing power, is this the same as ranking their ions in order of increasing reducing power? This question confused me because when you reverse the equations the sign of the standard potentials reverse too, and the answers were based off the ion's reducing power not the elements.

[Leah Thomas 2E]

Yes, the reducing power is talking about the element's ions. Keep in mind that an element with greater reducing power can easily be oxidized.

[Caroline Cox 1H]

The reducing power of an element is its ability to reduce other substances.

[Nishma Chakraborty 1J]

Reducing power is the ability of a species to reduce something else. If it's reducing something else, it is being oxidized itself. Therefore, based on reduction potentials, the more negative a potential is, the more likely it will be oxidized (and therefore has a greater reducing power as it is donating electrons, or reducing, another species.) So, the rankings for increasing reducing power went from most positive reduction potentials to the most negative reduction potentials.

Hope this helps :)

[Ilan Shavolian 1K]

Reducing power is the ability of a species to reduce something else. If it's reducing something else, it is being oxidized itself. Therefore, based on reduction potentials, the more negative a potential is, the more likely it will be oxidized (and therefore has a greater reducing power as it is donating electrons, or reducing, another species.) So, the rankings for increasing reducing power went from most positive reduction potentials to the most negative reduction potentials.

Hope this helps :)

Hey, i still don't quite understand why the most positive has the most reducing power? Can you help me understand that. Thank you

[Michelle Steinberg2J]

On my test we had to rank Zn, Mn, and Cr in order of increasing reducing power - I put Cr, Zn, Mn because the values would be -.74, -.76, and -1.18. But, I only got 1 point... Does anyone know what I might have lost a point on?

[Nishma Chakraborty 1J]

I had to kind of break it down and think of it like this:

reduction potentials (given to us): show how much potential a species has to be reduced, or gain electrons, the more positive the potential, the more it wants to gain electrons --the opposite is true: the more negative a reduction potential is, the more likely it wants to donate electrons instead of gaining them.

reducing power: how much a species wants to reduce something *else* so if it's reducing another species (donating its electrons to that species), it is being oxidized (losing electrons itself)


Since we're talking about reducing power then, the more positive a reduction potential is, the less likely it is to donate electrons (thus less reducing power).

Therefore, the reduction potentials should be ordered from most positive to most negative.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you need any clarification!

[Nishma Chakraborty 1J]

On my test we had to rank Zn, Mn, and Cr in order of increasing reducing power - I put Cr, Zn, Mn because the values would be -.74, -.76, and -1.18. But, I only got 1 point... Does anyone know what I might have lost a point on?

I just checked--that's the order I had too, and I got the points. I'd check with your TA on that!