Question

How do acid-base reactions differ from oxidation-reduction (or redox) reactions?

Answer 1

Hint:The acid base reaction and the redox reaction, both are a type of reaction which could be identified by the transfer of electrons. The species which accepts electrons are called acids and they could also be termed as oxidising agents, and similarly the species which donates electrons are called bases, and they could also be termed as reducing agents.

Complete answer:
In order to answer this question at first we need to define all the terms which are used in the question.
Acids are the species which have a tendency to accept electrons according to the Lewis definition of acids, and similarly bases are the species which has a tendency to donate electrons.
Another definition is based on the liberation of proton and hydroxide groups from the species. The acids tend to liberate its proton in aqueous solution and bases tend to liberate hydroxide ions.
Now, acid base reactions involve either donation and acceptance of electrons, or donation of proton from the acid and acceptance of that proton in the base species. It can be generally represented as
$$HX+MOH\to MX+H_{2}O$$
Where $HX$ is the acid and $MOH$ is the base whereas, $MX$ is the salt produced after the reaction and $H_{2}O$ is the water.
In case of the oxidation-reduction reaction, or also called redox reaction, the concept revolves around the oxidation state of a species. If after reaction the oxidation state of a species becomes more positive, or it loses electrons, then it is said to have undergone oxidation, similarly if the oxidation state of a species is more negative after the reaction, then it is said to undergo reduction. When these two processes take place simultaneously in a reaction, then it is called a redox reaction. For instance,
$SnCl+2FeC{l}_3\to SnC{l}_4+2FeC{l}_2$
Here the tin is getting oxidised while the iron is reduced.
So, both of these reactions are different from each other as acid base deals with proton transfer and the redox reaction is based on the formal charge of the oxidation state.

Note:The acid base reaction is based on the proton transfer taking place in the reactants, meaning, the reactant which accepts proton acts as a base and the one which donates proton, acts as an acid, hence acid base.
In case of the redox reaction involves change of formal charge of the molecules which are present as reactant, meaning, the ones which gain positive oxidation state after reaction are being oxidised and the ones which gain more negative oxidation state are being reduced.