What is reduction, Biology

Assignment Help:

What is reduction?

The most commonly understood definition of reduction is the removal of oxygen or addition of hydrogen ions. However, chemically, reduction can be defined as gain of electrons just as oxidation is loss of electrons. Let us look at the illustration:

 

18_What is reduction.png

Thus, the substance that a gains electron is reduced and that loses electrons is oxidized. In the above equations, cupric gains electrons and becomes cuprous in reduction and vice versa in oxidation. In an oxidation-reduction reaction, the electron donor is oxidized and the electron acceptor is reduced. See the reaction below:

2Na + Cl2 → NaCl

The sodium is oxidized since it has lost electrons and chloride is reduced as it has gained those electrons. In organic reactions, oxidation-reduction reactions usually involve loss or gain of hydrogen. Thus, to summarize, reduction is gain of electrons, gain of hydrogen or removal of oxygen and oxidation is loss of electrons, gain of oxygen or loss of hydrogen.


Related Discussions:- What is reduction

Prophase, Prophase This is the first and longest phase of mitosis .At i...

Prophase This is the first and longest phase of mitosis .At its beginning  all  10 nm segments   of chromatids (= chromonemata)  of the  duplicated  chromatin fibres of interph

What is diffusion, What is diffusion? Diffusion is the spreading of sub...

What is diffusion? Diffusion is the spreading of substance molecules from a region where the substance is more concentrated to another region where it is less concentrated. For

Why is maternal milk important for the immune protection, Why is maternal m...

Why is maternal milk important for the immune protection of the baby? Besides being nutritionally significant, maternal milk participates in the defense of the baby against inf

Give the introduction of genesis of coronary artery diseases, Give the intr...

Give the introduction of genesis of coronary artery diseases and risk factors? Cardio-vascular diseases have their roots in the structure and functional alterations in the vasc

Explain biochemical investigation, Explain Biochemical investigation Bi...

Explain Biochemical investigation Biochemical  investigations:  These help  to  reveal nutrients and metabolites in blood and /or urine, and/or faeces that indicate an infectio

Brodmann areas, One way that the cortex has been parcellated is based on fi...

One way that the cortex has been parcellated is based on fine-grained anatomical differences in the composition of the cortical layers: their thickness and types of neurons that ar

Grazing food chain - food chain, Grazing Food Chain - Food Chain Grazi...

Grazing Food Chain - Food Chain Grazing food chains are quite familiar to most of us. Cow or deer grazing in a field represent a grazing food chain. Similarly, eating of phyto

What is ground meristem in primary growing shoot, What is Ground Meristem i...

What is Ground Meristem in primary growing shoot? The ground meristem produces new cells which ultimately develop into parenchyma cells. The central portion of the primary shoo

Which mechanism is significant in death of erythrocytes, Of the following, ...

Of the following, which mechanisms are significant in the death of erythrocytes (pron: eh-rith-reh-sites) in human blood? Is it a) Phagocytosis (pron: fag-eh-seh-toe-sis) b)

Define about the centrifuge, Define about the Centrifuge? Centrifuge is...

Define about the Centrifuge? Centrifuge is an apparatus consisting essentially of a compartment spun about a central axis to separate contained materials of different specific

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd