Acidic vs basic solutions

[Hannah Yates 1K]

What’s the difference between balancing is acid and base?

[amogha_koka3I]

For balancing half reactions in both acidic and basic solutions, first balance the elements that are not Hydrogen or Oxygen. Then balance the O atoms by adding H20. For the next step: in acidic solution, balance H by using H+. But In basic solution, balance H by using H20 to the side of each half reaction that needs H and adding OH to the other side.

[David S]

I'm assuming you are referring to balancing redox reactions in acidic or basic conditions.

When you are balancing equations, you want to make sure that the same amount of atoms are on both sides of the equation right? This applies to hydrogen as well, and when you are balancing redox reactions that involve Oxygen and/or hydrogen in the species being oxidized/reduced, there are a few ways we can go about doing this.

In acidic solutions, we know that H+ is readily available and so if we need to have more hydrogen on one side of a reduction or oxidation, we can just add H+ to that side.

e.x:
1) staring with in acidic solution

2) add 2 H2O to the right side in order to balance out the 2 O atoms in MnO2:

3) now add 4H+ to the left side in order to balance out the 4H atoms in 2H2O:

4) Check the final equation and now you see that the number of atoms and total charge on each side is equal.


In basic solutions, we know that OH- ions are readily available. For every hydrogen you need on one side of a reaction to balance out H, you add one H2O to that side and one OH- on the other side. Since the difference between OH- and H2O is one H atom, doing this is the equivalent of adding one H atom to the side of the reaction that you need H atoms.

e.x:
1) starting with in basic solution

2) add one H2O to the right side to balance out O in BrO-:

3) To balance out H, add 2HO- to the right side and 2H2O on the left side:

4) The last step results in the left side having 4 more H than before, and now both sides are balanced. However, we can cancel out the H2O on the right, which gives us:

5) Check the final equation and you will see that The O, H, and total charge on each side is now equal.

[Diana Bibireata 1B]

For acidic solutions you balance out the oxygens by adding H2O and you balance the hydrogens by adding H+.
For basic solutions you balance the oxygens by adding H2O and then you balance the hydrogens by adding H2O to the side that requires more H atoms and add the same amount of OH- to the other side.

[Edward Suarez 1I]

for basic solutions, you use OH- and for acidic solutions you use H+ for balancing purposes

[George Ghaly 2L]

Both are balanced by adding water molecules to a the reactants or products, but for acidic reactions, they are balanced with H^+ while basic reactions are balanced by adding hydroxides to a side.

[505211599]

For acidic solutions you balance the hyrdrogen by adding H+ and for basic solutions you balance the hydrogen by adding OH-.

[Aili Ye 4L]

You can balance both initially using H+, but if you are balancing in a basic solution you must add OH- to neutralize the H+

[Jasmine Chow 1F]

A acidic solution had a greater abundance of hydrogen ions making the solution acidic while a basic solution will have a greater abundance of hydroxyl (OH-).

[LedaKnowles2E]

In acidic solutions, balance half-reactions by adding H2O and H+; in basic solutions, balance by adding H2O and OH-.

[Jack Hewitt 2H]

For an acidic solution you would use H20 and H+ to balance the hydrogens and oxygens while in a basic solution you would use H20 and OH- to balance the hydrogens and oxygens.