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Is nitric acid a reducing agent?

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No, nitric acid is powerful oxidising agent. In nitric acid (HNO3), nitrogen is in its maximum oxidation state of +5, and it cannot be oxidised further to any higher state. So, it cannot act as a reducing agent. read more

So the simple reason for why $\ce{HNO3}$ is so strong an oxidising agent (with respect to other acids) is that it has a different, better path available to it to get reduced. Note that the exact reduction path (i.e. final reduction products/oxidation state) depends upon the concentration of nitric acid--so much that copper can be oxidised in three different ways. read more

So, it cannot act as a reducing agent. In any oxidation-reduction reaction, the oxidising agent gets reduced to a lower state, and the reducing agent gets oxidised to a higher state. Nitric acid is an oxidising agent, and it usually gets reduced to NO (+2 state) or NO2 (+4 state) in its oxidation reactions. read more

(According to my book, the more hydrogen an atom has, the more reduced it is.) I know that it probably has to do with the fact that the hydrogen nitric acid donates is a proton, but I don't think I'm getting it 100%. read more

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