SCIENCE ONUOHA

BALANCING REDUCTION AND OXIDATION REDOX EQUATIONS When balancing redox reactions as written below. MnO4-   +  Cl- ==> MnO2 +  Cl2   We begin by checking for the oxidation number value changes of one of the elements for this case, manganese on both sides of the equation.  Calculating the oxidation number on both sides , it will be clearly seen that manganese changes from +7 to +4  meaning that it's trending towards the negatives. This implies that there is gain of electrons. The oxidation number is seen to decrease. In the case of the chloride ion there is a change from -1 to 0 indicating an increase in oxidation number hence the addition of electrons. In summary,manganese gains electrons thereby undergoing reduction while chloride ion losses electron to manganese to become chlorine gas. Writing a balanced redox equation, requires the following Divide the equation  break the whole equation into two half equations for each species and ...

OXIDATION NUMBER Oxidation number is the number of charge on a charged element Ca2+,Na+ (usually called ion) or a group of charged elements called radical e.g. SO42- , NO3-   e.t.c. The oxidation number can be calculated by following simple rules. The number of charge on the radical is the overall charge of the ion. Hence we can say Ca2+ has a charge of +2, while Na+ is +1, while SO42- , has a charge of -2. When an atom or group of atoms has no charge, it has an overall charge of zero. NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, the oxidation number of oxygen is -2. While most group 1,2, and 3 metals like Na, K, and Ca usually retain their natural value based on their group.  Some with multiple oxidation numbers have their charges written in Roman numerals after their names. CO2 - Carbon (IV)oxide H2SO4- Hydrogentetraoxosulphate(IV) NaNO3- Sodium trioxonitrate(V) When the element is positively charged, the suffix is pronounce - ate at the end of the  e.g. carbonate, sulphate however w...