Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

How can we relate between reducing character and basicity?

Answer
VerifiedVerified
443.4k+ views
like imagedislike image
Hint: Reducing character of a substance defines its capability to reduce, which means to be able to donate hydrogen atoms. This leads to reduction as it is the ability to give hydrogen atoms by removing oxygen atoms. While, basicity is related to bases that are the substances that can easily liberate hydroxide ions.

Complete answer:
Reduction is the process where an element oxidizes itself to give electrons or removes hydrogen. The atom that oxidizes itself is called a reducing agent. The ability of any atom to lose electrons defines its reducing character. The elements that have few electrons that are loosely held by the nucleus are the atoms having a strong reducing power.
Now, according to Lewis theory of acids and bases, an acid is that substance that gains an electron, while a base is that substance that donates an electron or accepts a hydrogen ion. This leads to the term basicity. Basicity is an ability of bases that can replace hydrogen atoms in an acid. In simple terms, the number of hydrogens that can be replaced by a base in an acid is the basicity of any substance.
As reducing character involves adding or gaining hydrogen, and basicity also involves the gaining of hydrogen ions, they both are nearly the same properties. So, an increase in reducing character will increase the basicity.
Hence, relation between reducing character and basicity is that they are directly proportional to each other.

Note:
The acidity of any substance is the ability to neutralize the hydroxide ions produced by the base, while basicity is the ability to neutralize the hydrogen ions produced by an acid. These terms define the acidic and basic strength of substances. Some good reducing agents are NaH,LiH,LiAlH4, etc.
Latest Vedantu courses for you
Grade 11 Science PCM | CBSE | SCHOOL | English
CBSE (2025-26)
calendar iconAcademic year 2025-26
language iconENGLISH
book iconUnlimited access till final school exam
tick
School Full course for CBSE students
PhysicsPhysics
ChemistryChemistry
MathsMaths
₹41,848 per year
Select and buy