---
title: "A student investigates the aqueous redox chemistry of a transition metal, \\(\\text{M}\\). The standard reduction potential, \\(E^\\circ\\), for each sequential one-electron reduction between adjacent oxidation states at \\(298 \\text{ K}\\) is plotted in the graph below.  Which of the following claims about the thermodynamic favorability of a reaction involving these species under standard conditions is correctly justified?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/123747/"
date_modified: "2026-09-28T12:02:31+00:00"
---

# A student investigates the aqueous redox chemistry of a transition metal, \(\text{M}\). The standard reduction potential, \(E^\circ\), for each sequential one-electron reduction between adjacent oxidation states at \(298 \text{ K}\) is plotted in the graph below.

Which of the following claims about the thermodynamic favorability of a reaction involving these species under standard conditions is correctly justified?

A student investigates the aqueous redox chemistry of a transition metal, \(\text{M}\). The standard reduction potential, \(E^\circ\), for each sequential one-electron reduction between adjacent oxidation states at \(298 \text{ K}\) is plotted in the graph below.

Which of the following claims about the thermodynamic favorability of a reaction involving these species under standard conditions is correctly justified?

![A grayscale Cartesian coordinate graph displaying standard reduction potentials. The vertical y-axis is labeled 'Standard reduction potential, \(E^\circ\) (V)' with numerical tick marks and thin horizontal gridlines at \(-0.60\), \(-0.40\), \(-0.20\), \(0.00\), \(+0.20\), \(+0.40\), \(+0.60\), \(+0.80\), \(+1.00\), \(+1.20\), and \(+1.40\). The horizontal x-axis is labeled 'Reduction half-reaction' with three evenly spaced discrete entries: '\(\text{M}^+\text{(aq)} + \text{e}^- \rightarrow \text{M(s)}\)', '\(\text{M}^{2+}\text{(aq)} + \text{e}^- \rightarrow \text{M}^+\text{(aq)}\)', and '\(\text{M}^{3+}\text{(aq)} + \text{e}^- \rightarrow \text{M}^{2+}\text{(aq)}\)'. Exactly three data points are plotted as filled black circles: at the first entry at \(y = -0.30\), at the second entry at \(y = +1.10\), and at the third entry at \(y = +0.20\). A single thin solid black line connects the three points sequentially from left to right. No other particles, labels, text, or annotations appear.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1790596951-VTlcOX.jpg)

- **A.** The reaction \(2\text{M}^+\text{(aq)} \rightarrow \text{M}^{2+}\text{(aq)} + \text{M(s)}\) is thermodynamically favored because \(E^\circ_{\text{cell}} = +1.40 \text{ V} > 0\).
- **B.** The reaction \(2\text{M}^{2+}\text{(aq)} \rightarrow \text{M}^{3+}\text{(aq)} + \text{M}^+\text{(aq)}\) is not thermodynamically favored because \(E^\circ_{\text{cell}} = -0.90 \text{ V} < 0\).
- **C.** The reaction \(2\text{M}^{2+}\text{(aq)} \rightarrow \text{M}^{3+}\text{(aq)} + \text{M}^+\text{(aq)}\) is thermodynamically favored because \(E^\circ_{\text{cell}} = +0.90 \text{ V} > 0\).
- **D.** The reaction \(\text{M(s)} + \text{M}^{2+}\text{(aq)} \rightarrow 2\text{M}^+\text{(aq)}\) is not thermodynamically favored because \(E^\circ_{\text{cell}} = -1.40 \text{ V} < 0\).

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/123747/*