Question

Ozone acts as an oxidizing and reducing agent. Explain with examples. What are basic oxides, explain with a suitable reaction.

Answer 1

Hint: Ozone gas is an allotropic form of oxygen having the chemical formula $ {{\text{O}}_{\text{3}}} $ . Oxidizing and reducing agents are chemical entities that are responsible for oxidation and reduction of other substances respectively. Only those compounds which are present in an intermediate oxidation state can be used as an oxidizing and reducing agent.

Complete step-by-step answer
Ozone is another physical form of oxygen in the same gaseous state that is an allotrope of oxygen. It is a highly poisonous gas with a strong odor and is usually pale blue in color.
Oxidizing agents are the chemical substances that oxidize that take away electrons from another molecule. It is also said to be an electron acceptor. Any oxidizing agent when oxidizes another substance itself gets reduced by taking up one or more electrons from that substance. Examples of oxidizing agents are halogens, nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, oxygen, etc.
Ozone is considered to be a strong oxidizing agent as it gets easily decomposed into dioxygen and oxygen on heating ( $ {{O}_{3}}={{O}_{2}}+O $ ). As the nascent oxygen is highly reactive, it can take up an electron and become a powerful oxidizing agent, e.g.
Ozone reacts with lead sulfide and forms sulfate.
 $ \text{PbS+ 4}{{\text{O}}_{\text{3}}}\to \text{PbS}{{\text{O}}_{\text{4}}}\text{+ 4}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}} $
Reducing agents are the chemical substances that reduce other substances by donating one or more electrons to that molecule, hence also known as an electron donor. Just like oxidizing agents, when reducing agents reduces another molecule it itself gets oxidized due to loss of an electron, e.g. sodium, iron, zinc, etc. Ozone can act as a reducing agent as well, e.g.
Ozone reduces hydrogen peroxide to form water and oxygen.
 $ {{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}\text{+}{{\text{O}}_{\text{3}}}\to {{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}\text{O+2}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}} $
Based on characteristics of oxides they are classified into atmospheric oxides, neutral oxides, acidic oxides, and basic oxides.
Basic oxides are oxides (Oxygen contain compounds) which when reacts with water forms a base, e.g. when sodium carbonate reacts with water it gives sodium hydroxide.
 $ \text{N}{{\text{a}}_{\text{2}}}\text{O + }{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}\text{O}\to \text{ 2NaOH} $ .

Note:
The ozone layer around the plants provides protection from harmful UV radiation from the sun. However, ozone present in our atmosphere can be harmful as it can cause many complications. Ozone in the atmosphere can cause skin problems.