the.com/redox
Chemistry's divorce settlement: one atom loses electrons, another gains, nobody shares custody.
means A chemical reaction in which electrons are transferred between substances — one gets oxidized (loses electrons), the other gets reduced (gains them), always as a package deal.
from A 20th-century chemists' blend, splicing 'red(uction)' and 'ox(idation)' into one tidy word — lab shorthand for a pair of reactions that always happen together, since every electron that leaves one atom has to land on another.
- full name
- reduction plus oxidation, always a package deal
- memory trick
- OIL RIG: oxidation is loss, reduction is gain
- counterintuitive bit
- reduction means gaining electrons, not shrinking
- everyday example
- rust, batteries, and burning toast are all redox