Is calcium a reducing agent or oxidising agent?
Answers
calcium is a reducing agent mate
Its a reducing agent...
Calcium, Ca, a member of Group 2 (IIA) of the Periodic Table between magnesium and strontium, is classified, together with barium and strontium, as an alkaline‐earth metal and is the lightest of the three. Calcium metal does not occur free in nature; however, in the form of numerous compounds, it is the fifth most abundant element, constituting 3.63% of the earth's crust. Calcium is mainly used for improvement of steel; as a reducing agent for many reactive, less common metals; to remove bismuth from lead; as a desulfurizer and deoxidizer for ferrous metals and alloys; as an alloying agent for aluminum, silicon, and lead in the manufacture of lead–acid batteries and for permanent magnet manufacture. Pure calcium is a bright, silvery‐white metal, although under normal atmospheric conditions, freshly exposed surfaces of calcium quickly become covered with an oxide layer. The metal is extremely soft and ductile. Calcium's usefulness as a structural material is limited by low tensile strength and high chemical reactivity. Calcium has a valence electron configuration of 4s 2 and characteristically forms divalent compounds. It is very reactive and reacts vigorously with water, liberating hydrogen and forming calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2. Calcium does not readily oxidize in dry air at room temperature but is quickly oxidized in moist air or in dry oxygen at about 300°C. Calcium reacts with fluorine at room temperature and with the other halogens at 400°C. Calcium is an excellent reducing agent and is widely used for this purpose.