Types of Redox Reactions

Redox reactions are not all the same — chemists classify them into four categories based

on the pattern of electron transfer: combination, decomposition, displacement

and disproportionation reactions. Each category is developed in its own part below.

As you read, keep one bookkeeping habit: assign oxidation numbers to every element on both

sides of an equation and watch which ones change. That single habit is what separates a

genuine redox process from a reaction that merely rearranges partners.

The worked Problems 7.5–7.7 of this section apply the classification — 7.5 and 7.6 to …