CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

Question 7C involves writing the cell diagram for the reaction of solid zinc, aqueous nitrate, and aqueous hydrogen ions to form Zinc2+, nitrogen dioxide gas, and liquid water. The cell diagram includes the H+ ions. Why is this since the hydrogen is not being reduced? Would we be marked down if we did not include the hydrogen ion in the cell diagram?

H+ is being used as a counterion to the NO3-, which is why it's separated by a comma as opposed to a line. It's vital to understand that negatively charged substituents will be surrounded by positives (in this case protons) due to electrostatic interactions, and therefore, must be accounted for.