Arrange the following
NaH, MgH2 and H2O in order of increasing reducing property.
The reducing property of hydrides is dependent upon the nature of hydride molecule that is whether the hydride is ionic or covalent in nature.
Ionic hydrides exhibit strong reducing nature as they have the tendency to lose electrons whereas covalent hydrides do not show reducing property.
Both, MgH2 and H2O are covalent hydrides. H2O is less reducing than MgH2 since the bond dissociation energy of H2O is higher than MgH2.
Hence, the increasing order of the reducing property is
H2O < MgH2 < NaH