Q.Carbon monoxide acts as a good reducing agent in metallurgy. Write the equation for its use in reducing iron(III) oxide in the blast furnace, and state the hybridisation of carbon in the CO molecule.

[!TLDR] CO reduces Fe2O3 to iron metal in the blast furnace, itself being oxidised to CO2; carbon in CO is sp hybridised. [!ANSWER] $\text{Fe}_2\text{O}_3+3\text{CO}\rightarrow 2\text{Fe}+3\text{CO}_2$; carbon in CO is $sp$ hybridised, consistent with the short, strong C-O triple bond in the molecule.

Carbon monoxide's usefulness as a reducing agent in metallurgy is exploited on a huge industrial scale in the blast furnace, where CO reduces iron(III) oxide ore to metallic iron while itself being oxidised to carbon dioxide:\n$\text{Fe}_2\text{O}_3 + 3\text{CO} \longrightarrow 2\text{Fe} + 3\text{CO}_2$\nThis reaction is central to the industrial extraction of iron from its principal ores. Structurally, the CO molecule contains a short, strong carbon–oxygen triple bond (represented as $:\!\text{C}\!\equiv\!\text{O}\!:$, with a lone pair remaining on each atom), and the carbon atom's bonding geometry is linear, consistent with $sp$ hybridisation — the same hybridisation state seen for a central atom forming a triple bond in other simple diatomic and near-linear molecules, and directly responsible for CO's unusually short bond length and high bond dissociation energy relative to a typical single or double carbon-oxygen bond. [!ANSWER] $\text{Fe}_2\text{O}_3+3\text{CO}\rightarrow 2\text{Fe}+3\text{CO}_2$ is the blast-furnace reduction; carbon in CO is $sp$ hybridised, matching the molecule's short, strong triple bond.

Write and balance the Fe2O3/CO blast-furnace reduction equation, then state carbon's hybridisation in CO based on its triple-bond structure.

Leaving the equation unbalanced for iron/oxygen atoms; stating an incorrect hybridisation (e.g. sp2 or sp3) for the triple-bonded carbon in CO.