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In an experiment a student heats copper oxide and carbon to produce copper - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry: Combined Science - Question 13 - 2020 - Paper 1
Question 13
In an experiment a student heats copper oxide and carbon to produce copper. Look at the diagram of the equipment she uses. (a) Complete the word equation for the re... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:In an experiment a student heats copper oxide and carbon to produce copper - OCR Gateway - GCSE Chemistry: Combined Science - Question 13 - 2020 - Paper 1
Step 1
Step 2
Explain why.
Answer
In this reaction, copper ions in copper oxide are reduced because they gain electrons during the process.
Here's a breakdown of the reduction process:
- Copper oxide contains copper ions (Cu²⁺).
- When carbon is added and heated, it reacts with copper oxide.
- The carbon acts as a reducing agent, donating electrons to the copper ions.
- This gain of electrons converts the Cu²⁺ ions into neutral copper (Cu).
Thus, the reduction of copper ions occurs as they lose their positive charge by gaining electrons from carbon.