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AA 2016-2017
Oxidation Number
Every atom, ion or polyatomic ion has a
formal O.N. associated with it.
In many cases, the O.N. reflects the actual
charge on the atom, but there are many cases
where it does not. Think of O.N. as a book-
keeping exercise simply to keep track of
where electrons go.
2/36 Practice lecture 3 – BALANCING REDOX REACTIONS
The meaning of Reduction and Oxidation (2/2)
Reduction Oxidation
refers to the fact that the O.N. of Oxidation is the reverse process:
an atom is reduced during the the O.N. of an atom is increased
reduction. during the oxidation.
This is accomplished by adding e-, This is done by removing e-. The
which, being negative, reduce the e-, being negative, make the
overall O.N. of the atom receiving atom that lost them more
the e-. positive.
3/36 Practice lecture 3 – BALANCING REDOX REACTIONS
Examples of Oxidation-Reduction reactions
Here there are two examples of fundamental biological redox
reactions:
• Cellular respiration is the oxidation of glucose (C6H12O6) to CO2
and the reduction of oxygen to water.
The summary equation for cell respiration is:
C6H12O6 + 6 O2 → 6 CO2 + 6 H2O
• Photosynthesis involves the reduction of carbon dioxide into
sugars and the oxidation of water into molecular oxygen.
The summary equation for photosynthesis is:
6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light energy → C6H12O6 + 6 O2
Redox equations need to be balanced but, except for the most
simple ones, it cannot be done by inspection.
There are two main methods used to balance redox reactions:
1. Method based on the oxidation number
2. Method based on half-reactions (or semi-reactions)
4/36 Practice lecture 3 – BALANCING REDOX REACTIONS
Balancing Redox Reactions
Following the Law of Conservation of Mass you learned that the
number of atoms of each element must be the same on both the
reactant and product side of the equation.
Many redox reactions cannot easily be balanced just by counting
atoms. Consider the following net ionic equation:
We can see that the number of electrons lost by copper does not
equal the number gained by silver. We need to correct that, so we
will multiply Ag by 2, giving us a total of two silvers.
6/36 Practice lecture 3 – BALANCING REDOX REACTIONS
Balancing Redox Reactions using Oxidation Numbers (2/7)
We'll multiply copper by one - it won't change anything but will help
keep us organized:
We now have our multipliers for the balanced equation: "4" for nitrogen
and "7" for oxygen - but which oxygen??? The one on the reactant side or
the two different compounds that contain oxygen on the product side???
Here's where our trick becomes more useful, but will require some trial
and error. Since we were counting oxygen atoms in the O2 molecule on the
reactant side of the equation, that's where we'll use the "7". (You could
make the same argument about NO2, but since nitrogen's oxidation
number also changed we will use nitrogen's balancing coefficient there).
The last step is to balance for hydrogen atoms (and finishing oxygen),
which will mean placing a 6 in front of H2O:
4 NH3 + 7 O2 → 4 NO2 + 6 H2O
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One more tricky. Balance:
Zn + HNO3 → Zn(NO3)2 + NO2 + H2O
Determine oxidation numbers and create your summary chart:
We now get our balancing coefficients from our summary table. A "1"
will be placed in front of Zn, but which N should we use for the "2"? If
you put it in front of both HNO3 and NO2 you'll find you cannot
balance for nitrogen atoms.
11/36 Practice lecture 3 – BALANCING REDOX REACTIONS
Balancing Redox Reactions using Oxidation Numbers (7/7)
Zn + HNO3 → Zn(NO3)2 + NO2 + H2O
With the 2 in place in front of NO2, we can now balance the rest of the
equation for atoms. Doing so gives us the final answer:
1 Zn + 4 HNO3 → 1 Zn(NO3)2 + 2 NO2 + 2 H2O
Cu → Cu+2 + 2 e- Ag+ + 1 e- → Ag
oxidation reduction
After balancing for atoms and for charge, we see that the two
equations do not have the same number of electrons - there are 2 in
the copper reaction but only one in the silver reaction. Multiply
everything in the silver reaction by 2, then we will add the equations
together.
17/36 Practice lecture 3 – BALANCING REDOX REACTIONS
Balancing Redox Reactions using half-reactions (6/10)
We work as follows:
Please note that the first two half-reactions (both oxidations) total up
to nine electrons. Consequently, a factor of three is needed for the
third equation, the only one shown below:
3 [3e¯ + 4H++ NO3¯--->NO +2H2O]
2 2
2 2
1 2 2