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  4. One gas bleaches the colour of flowers by reduction and another gas by oxidation. The gases respectively are

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Q. One gas bleaches the colour of flowers by reduction and another gas by oxidation. The gases respectively are

UP CPMTUP CPMT 2008

Solution:

$SO_{2}$ in presence of moisture acts as a bleaching agent. This is due to the reducing nature of $SO_{2}$.
$SO_{2}+2H_{2}O \to H_{2}SO_{4}+2H$
Coloured matter $+H \to$ colourless matter
Chlorine reacts with water forming $HCl$ and $HClO$ (hypochlorous acid). $HClO$ is not so stable and decomposes giving nascent oxygen. Which is responsible for oxidising and bleaching properties of chlorine
$Cl_{2}+H_{2}O \to HCl +HClO$
$HClO \to HCl+O$
coloured matter + nascent oxygen $\to$ colourless matter