Which of the following is weakest oxidising agent ?

Options

A. `F_(2)`
B. `Cl_(2)`
C. `Br_(2)`
D. `I_(2)`

Answer

To determine which of the following is the weakest oxidizing agent among F2, Cl2, Br2, and I2, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Understand the concept of oxidizing agents
An oxidizing agent is a substance that has the ability to accept electrons from another substance during a chemical reaction. The stronger the oxidizing agent, the more readily it accepts electrons.

### Step 2: Identify the elements in question
The elements we are considering are all halogens:
- F2 (Fluorine)
- Cl2 (Chlorine)
- Br2 (Bromine)
- I2 (Iodine)

### Step 3: Know the trend in oxidizing power of halogens
Halogens have a strong tendency to accept electrons, which means they act as strong oxidizing agents. However, their oxidizing power decreases as we move down the group in the periodic table:
- Fluorine (F2) is the strongest oxidizing agent.
- Chlorine (Cl2) is less strong than fluorine but still a strong oxidizing agent.
- Bromine (Br2) is weaker than chlorine.
- Iodine (I2) is the weakest among these halogens.

### Step 4: Compare the oxidizing strengths
Based on the trend:
- F2 > Cl2 > Br2 > I2
This means that as we go from fluorine to iodine, the oxidizing power decreases.

### Step 5: Identify the weakest oxidizing agent
From the comparison, we can conclude that I2 (Iodine) is the weakest oxidizing agent among the given options.

### Final Answer
Thus, the weakest oxidizing agent among F2, Cl2, Br2, and I2 is **I2**.

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