Adding OH

[Joyce Gu 1E]

When balancing redox reactions, how do you know when to add OH?

[Tim Nguyen 2J]

You only add OH when the redox reaction is in a basic solution

[Justin Bui 2L]

Yeah, for the whole shebang in a basic solution, you first balance O with H2O, also, you need to add H2O on the side that needs H, and then OH- on the opposite side

[CalebBurns3L]

You will be adding OH- if its under basic conditions and H+ under acidic conditions.

[Sarah Wax 1G]

Remember to always balance OH with H2O, otherwise the equation won't balance in the long run.

[Sirajbir Sodhi 2K]

In basic solutions, you add OH-.

[Kristin Ishaya 1A]

You only add OH- when dealing with basic solutions. So, when balancing a basic solution, you start by adding H2O to balance the oxygens. Then you add H+ to balance the hydrogens. (This is where you would stop if it were an acidic solution.) Then you add OH- to balance the H+ (because you can't have H+ in a basic solution). So the H+ and the OH- combine to form H20 and then you cancel out any excess H20.