question_answer

Give one example of a reaction in which dihydrogen acts as a reducing agent and an oxidising agent.

Answer:

                Dihydrogen acts as a reducing agent as it removes oxygen from the oxides of metal upon heating. \[CuO+\underset{(\operatorname{Re}ducing\,agent)}{\mathop{{{H}_{2}}}}\,\xrightarrow{{}}Cu+{{H}_{2}}O\] Dihydrogen can also act as oxidising agent while reacting with highly electropositive metals belonging to group 1 and 2. For example, in the ionic hydride, Na has transferred an electron to the hydrogen atom. Therefore, it is a reducing agent while diydrogen is an oxidising agent. \[2Na+\underset{(\text{Oxidising}\,\text{agent})}{\mathop{{{H}_{2}}}}\,\xrightarrow{{}}2NaH\,\,or\,\,(2N\overset{+}{\mathop{a}}\,\overset{-}{\mathop{H}}\,)\]