OH vs H

[Sophia Dinh 1D]

Can you ever use H+ to balance the equation in a basic solution?

[Hannah Romeo 1J]

No because H+ is only used in acidic solutions.

[005324438]

H+ is used to balance acidic solutions, OH- is used to balance basic solutions. One can't be used for the other because there is no concentration to use, and that form of the reaction is highly unlikely to happen.

[Asha Agarwal 1E]

You have to as balancing in a basic solution requires the same steps as balancing in an acidic solution, however, at the end you have to neutralize the H+ with OH- for a basic solution.

[Pablo 1K]

No since fundamentally, H+ would make a solution more acidic and in a basic equation, you have more OH- so OH- would be utilized to balance only in basic solutions.

[Suraj Doshi 2G]

We can't use H+ to balance an equation in basic solutions as adding H+ would decrease pH (Making the solution overall more acidic) and therefore messing up the equation. To balance an equation in basic solution we would have to use OH- and then add waters to the other side to balance everything out.

[Simon Dionson 4I]

I actually use H+ to help balance my basic equations, except an extra step would have to be taken.

When I have H+, I convert that to OH- by adding OH- to both sides. H+ and OH- neutralize to H2O so H+ never appears in my final equation

I learned this method in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5sDNmYCaqo

I recommend watching after 1 minute.

[KnarGeghamyan1B]

If it's a basic solution, there's a trick that usually works. First balance the H+ by placing H2O on the opposite side, then balance the original side by adding twice the molecules of H2O, and finally add the doubles coefficient of OH to the other side to balance the additional atoms you added. The waters should reduce and you are left with no H+.

[Madelyn Romberg 1H]

In basic solutions, H+ is not readily available. To balance H, you add h20 to one side and then oh- to the other. This is essentially adding an H+ in a different manner.

[KSong_1J]

No, you would use OH- to balance basic solutions instead of H+. However, you do use H2O for balancing in both acidic and basic solutions

[205291012]

I would stick to balancing basic solutions with OH- and acidic with H+.

[Nohemi Garcia 1L]

No, it's never used for balancing in an acidic solution.

[ValerieChavarin 4F]

No, H+ is only used to balance a redox rxn in acidic conditions. In the case of a basic solution, you MUST use OH^-