Answer to Question #75976 in Inorganic Chemistry for Mahesh

Question

Why suitable reducing agents are required for reduction ofetal oxides?what are the guidelines to choose a particular reducing agent?

Answer 1

Answer: one way to produce pure metals is to recover them from oxides. However, each metal
has its own electrode and chemical potentials, which, in principle, are related to each other. In
this connection and, on the basis of this, a suitable reducing agent is needed to produce the
metal from its oxide. Recommendations for choosing a specific reductant are some patterns
that are identified by experience. In particular, there is one main recommendation: the
reductant must be selected in such a way that the potential in the oxidation-reduction system is
positive.