11: Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry
- Page ID
- 396419
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- 11.1: Hard and Soft Acids and Bases
- Lewis acids and bases can be classified by designating them as hard or soft. "Hard" acids and bases have a high charge (positive for acids, negative for bases) to ionic radius ratio along with higher oxidation states. Hard acids are not very polarizable and have high charge densities. In contact, "Soft" acids or bases have a low charge to radius ratio, with low oxidation states. They are normally larger ions that are polarizable.
- 11.2: Prelude to Redox Stability and Redox Reactions
- In redox reactions, one element or compound is reduced (gains electrons) and another is oxidized (loses electrons). In terms of everyday life, redox reactions occur all of the time around us. For example, the metabolism of sugars to CO2, which stores energy in the form of ATP, is a redox reaction. Another example of redox is fire or combustion, such as in a car engine. In a car engine, hydrocarbons in the fuel are oxidized to carbon dioxide and water, while oxygen is reduced to water.
- 11.3: Electrochemical Potentials
- In electrochemical cell and redox reactions, in general, the thermodynamic driving force can be measured as the cell potential. Chemical reactions are spontaneous in the direction of -ΔG, which is also the direction in which the cell potential (defined as Eanode - Ecathode) is positive. A cell operating in the spontaneous direction (for example, a battery that is discharging) is called a galvanic cell. Cells that are driven in the non-spontaneous direction are called electolytic cells.