Left and Right

[Brandon Tao 1K]

Why do we need to do the left and right side reactions separately

[connie 2C]

the two reactions are a redox reaction but it is easier to analyze the reaction by making them into two half-reactions

[chemboi]

Splitting the net reaction into the two half reactions that occur at each electrode respectively make it clearer to work through the problem and see what's going on at each electrode.

[kristi le 2F]

This way, we can also more clearly see which atoms are being reduced and oxidized and make sure the movement of electrons is accurate.

[Ellen Amico 2L]

By separating it into two half reactions, it's easier to balance everything and also add in species such as water or H+ if the reaction is occurring in acidic solution. Also, when you write the net ionic equation, it's easier to cancel things out in each reaction to produce the net ionic equation.