stressing, student mum about chemistry, please help if your brain stores some of this info!

[loopyladybarth]

Im currently on access to nursing and hopelessly truing to write up a chemistry assignment, I knew i should have paid more attention in school! Does anyone know much about oxidation and equations and why cesium is the most reactive metal in terms of size and electronic configuration? And flourine for the non metal? I have tried a level books, wiki all stuff all day and its no clearer i am doing ok inthe other areas and so want to pass this unit with more than just a pass!

Also im doing a research project on the ethics involved in human embyonic stem cells, anyone know how i might get an online survey of mine up on this site? As i want to compare views from medical positions and mothers. Im still all new in tech land and would really appreciate any help.
LO due back in hour then its back to long drwan out evenings when they are in bed trying to get work done! anyone else who has completed studying with little kids words of encouragment much needed, feel overwhelmed and a bit thick right now, x x

Ok, I did a degree in chemistry 20 years ago so a bit rusty, but basically, cesium is more reactive because it is bigger than the other metals above it in the periodic table, this means that the outermost electron is further away from the nucleus and therefore less strongly held, and therefore the ionisation energy is lower. This means that an electronegative atom, like Fluorine can pull the electron from the cesium towards it's own nucleus very readily forming a bond. Fluorine is strongly electronegative because it is small and therefore its nucleus can pull an electron from an atom such as cesium more easily than the bigger halogens such as bromine.

BBC Bitesize chemistry explains it better than me.

Can't help with the survey I'm afraid, but well done for doing this with DC to cope with as well, good luck!

I'm a secondary science teacher, let me know if you need more help after looking at bite size

Oh thanks guys I really do appreciate the support and help! feeling a little more positive today! DO are in bed finally! Busy day again tomorrow with dance classes ans swimming. Seriously the being 3 and 5 gives you a great social life! Lol
Ok for next bit of help pretty please Im trying to identify the oxidating and reducing agents here is my first example from a titration experiment i did(oh and badle spilt Hcl all over my papers!

HCl + NaOH → NaCl + H2O

The reduction agent is O from NaoH to NaCl and oxidation agent is H from Hcl to H20? if thats not right i think i might spontaneously combust! If i am way out can you help me with this one?CH3COOH + NaOH → NaCH3COO + H20 just the look of it is freaking me out! i have so much respect for those that really get this! x

weird the number bit with & suppose to be arrow?

DH teaches chemistry at university level. He's had a look and says the following:

These are both the same reaction. Acid plus base equals salt plus water. They are not redox reactions so there are no oxidising or reducing agents involved.

Hope that helps. I know sod all about science personally!

Oh crap, yes it helps at least now i havent cocked it completely up! But still none the wiser is this a redox one

Zno + CO into Zn + CO2 reduction from Zno to Zn and oxidation from CO to CO2 sorry to ask again. man my chem stinks thank goodness i get physiology better! otherwise i might really suck at becomming a nurse be better suited to the morgue! ;-)

Paddington's husband here (she's gone to feed the boy) -

a redox reaction requires the oxidation states of the atoms to change - increasing oxidation state is oxidised, decrease oxidation state is reduced. In your example, in ZnO the zinc is in oxidation state +2 and the oxygen is -2, while in carbon monoxide, the oxygen is again -2 and the carbon is (unusually) +2. Since carbon is usually +4, carbon monoxide is a strong reducing agent (it wants to be oxidised back to +4, so it needs to reduce something else to balance, so it is a reducing agent). Here the CO reduces Zn(2+) in ZnO to Zn(0) (that's zero, not oxygen), and the carbon is oxidised to C(4+) in CO2, capturing the extra oxygen lost from ZnO.

There are several definitions of oxidation and reduction.
The easiest one with the above reactions is that oxidation is the gain of an Oxygen atom (and reduction is the loss of an O atom)
So CO gains O to form CO2 and is oxidised. ZnO loses O to form Zn so is reduced. This is one of the GSCE definitions. It is the other way round for H atoms!
The other main one is that Oxidation is the loss of electrons and reduction is the gain of electrons.
The oxidation no. definition also works but is AS level so could be a bit advanced for an Access course.
Paddington's husband is right acid/base reactions are not redox - that is because there is no transfer of electrons involved. However if sodium metal reacted with hydrochloric acid this would be a redox reaction where the sodium is oxidised and hydrogen is reduced.
Overall equation: 2Na + 2HCl ......... 2NaCl + H2
Half equations Na ....... Na+ + e- Loss of electrons so oxidation
2H+ + 2e- ......... H2 Gain of electrons so reduction
Hope this helps

Just remembered an acronym we learnt at school for redox reactions.

OILRIG - oxidation is loss reduction is gain