When you are given a table of half cells with values for electrode potentials, how do you find the strongest oxidising and reducing agent?

Possibly the easiest way to do this is by thinking about what the value of Electrode Potential means. The more positive the Electrode Potential, the greater the tendency of the species in the equation to be reduced. As we know from the 1st year, species which are reduced are called oxidising agents, hence the strongest oxidising agent may be found in the equation with the greatest value of electrode potential. In redox equations, oxiding agents are always found on the left side of the equilibrium arrow as they are the species being reduced.

This means that the most negative (or least positive) electrode potential is the system in which the species have the greatest tendency to be oxidised. In a redox reaction, the species which is being oxidised is the reducing agent and by convention, it is always found on the right hand side of the equilibrium arrow. Therefore the strongest reducing agent in the table will be on the right hand side of the arrow of the system with the most negative (or least positive) electrode potential.