Oxidation-Reduction Reaction Lab

Introduction An oxidation-reduction reaction involves transferring electrons in a chemical reaction. In a redox reaction, there are oxidizing agents that gain electrons and cause other substances to lose electrons, and reducing agents that lose electrons and cause other substances to gain electrons. Oxidation-reduction reactions are applied in many real-life situations. These reactions are often found in electrochemical batteries, photosynthesis and the burning of fossil fuels.1

Objective For our lab, we paired specific metals to different metal ions to determine which reactions would occur and therefore which were the best reducing/oxidation agents. We then preformed a second experiment using sodium iodide in three different reactions with

For our mixtures, we placed the metal pieces inside of a small test tube, poured 1-2 mL of the metal ion solution into the tube, waited 30 minutes, and decided if there was a reaction or not. For the second experiment, we dissolved 0.5 g of solid copper(II)nitrate in 20 mL of deionized water and 0.5 g of sodium iodide in a separate 20 mL of deionized water, combined the two solutions, and recorded our observations. Then we combined 2 mL of 0.1 M sodium iodide, 2 mL hexane, and 2 mL of iron(III)chloride in a test tube and recorded our observations. Lastly, we mixed 2 mL of 0.1 M sodium iodide, 2 mL hexane, and 2 mL of 0.1 M tin(IV)chloride in a test tube and recorded our

We know this because the copper went from Cu2+ to Cu1+. From this reaction we can also write a balanced equation.
2Cu(NO3)2 + 4NaI 2CuI + I2 + 4NaNO3
Then we created a net ionic equation for the reaction.
2Cu2+(aq) + 4I- (aq) 2Cu+ + I20
With the reactants NaI + FeCl3, we can predict that Fe3+ is being reduced by I-. We know this because the iron went from Fe3+ to Fe2+. From this reaction we wrote a balanced equation.
6NaI + 2FeCl3 6NaCl + I2+ 2FeI
Then we created a net ionic equation for the reaction.
2Fe3+ (aq) + 2I- (aq) 2Fe2+ + I20
Lastly with the reactants NaI + SnCl4, we predicted that Sn4+ is being reduced by I-. We predicted this because the tin went from Sn4+ to Sn2+. From this reaction we wrote a balanced equation.
SnCl4 + 2NaI SnCl2 + I2 + 2NaCl
Then we created a net ionic equation for the reaction.
Sn4+ (aq) + 2I- Sn2+ + I20 When looking at a table of reduction potentials, some of the oxidation states did not match with our resulting metal cations. Fe3+ had a much higher electrode potential than iodine, even though we had predicted that it would be the opposite. Error could have resulted from incorrect equations for the three reactions in experiment