Chemistry
Hydrogen is a good reducing agent. What do you understand by the above statement? Explain with the help of copper oxide as an example.
Answer
When hydrogen is passed over hot metallic oxides of copper, lead, iron, etc. it removes oxygen from them and thus reduces them to their corresponding metals. Hence, hydrogen acts as a good reducing agent.
When hydrogen gas is passed over heated copper oxide, copper oxide gets reduced to metallic copper by the removal of oxygen from it. The equation for the reaction is given below:
CuO + H2 ⟶ Cu + H2O
Related Questions
(a) Name the chemicals required to prepare hydrogen gas in the laboratory.
(b) Give a balanced chemical equation for the reaction.
(c) Draw a neat and well-labelled diagram for the laboratory preparation of hydrogen.
(d) How is hydrogen gas collected? Why?
How would you show that hydrogen:
(a) is a non-supporter of combustion?
(b) is lighter than air?
(a) Name a process by which hydrogen gas is manufactured.
(b) Give equations for the reactions.
(c) How is hydrogen separated from carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide?
State four uses of hydrogen.