Identify the oxidizing and reducing agents in this reaction: C7H12 (I) + 10O2 (g) → 7CO2 (g) + 6H2O (I)

H has a charge of + 1, and O has a charge of - 2. In this case, C in C7H12 would have a charge of - 12/7 to balance it out. Meanwhile, C in CO2 would have a charge of + 4. Since the charge of C went from negative to positive, this implies that C lost electrons, which is indicative of oxidation (and thus it was the reducing agent). Therefore, C7H12 was the reducing agent, while O2 was the oxidizing agent.