Balancing Redox Reaction By Oxidation Number

ChemistryWiki | RecentChanges | Preferences

Balancing Redox Reactions by Oxidation Numbers


Even though one would think (and often times it happens) that simply balancing the atoms would also balance the electrons. Electron conservation along with mass and energy conservation must be maintained in a chemical reaction.

Steps for Balancing Redox Reactions by Oxidation Number

1. Write above each element its oxidation number.
2. With the "line method", show the oxidation before & after reaction.
3. Then write how many electrons are moving for the oxidizing element and reducing element.
4. Change the coefficient in front of the species until the # of electrons gaining/losing (i.e. transferring) are equal.
5. Important note: this number of electrons moving is for one element, so if you have two, three, etc of these elements in the species chemical formula, you must multiply by that number to determine the number of electrons moving. Then you change the coefficient. At this point, you are only looking at the reactants, never the products.
6. Balance the rest by atoms (even if you have to change the coefficient from the electron balancing).



ChemistryWiki | RecentChanges | Preferences
Edit text of this page | View other revisions
Last edited February 27, 2015 12:29 pm (diff)
Search: