Question

Balance the following skeleton reaction and identify the oxidizing and reducing agents: H2S(g) + NO3 ---->’ S8(s) + NO(g) [acidic] Include the states for each reactant and product in the balanced chemical equation. Do not include the states when identifying the oxidizing and reducing agents.

Answer 1

Answer : Oxidizing agent is $NO^-_3$ and Reducing agent is $H_2S$

Explanation :

The given unbalanced redox reaction is,

$H_2S(g)+NO^-_3(aq)\rightarrow S_8(s)+NO(g)$

In acidic medium, the balanced redox reaction is,

$24H_2S(g)+6NO^-_3(aq)16H^+(aq)\rightarrow 3S_8(s)+16NO(g)32H_2O(l)$

Oxidizing agent : Oxidizing agents are those agent which oxidizes other substance and itself get reduced.

Reducing agent : Reducing agents are those agent which reduces other substance and itself get oxidized.

In this redox reaction, $NO^-_3$ is an oxidizing agent and $H_2S$ is a reducing agent.

The redox reaction is also shown below.