Balancing number of electrons
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Balancing number of electrons
To balance the number of electrons between the two half-reactions, we multiply each reaction by the least common multiple?
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Re: Balancing number of electrons
Yes because you want to make sure that the electrons cancel out when you write the final balanced redox reaction.
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Re: Balancing number of electrons
Yes, there is no need to go higher than the least common multiple because the sole goal is to just cancel them out. Furthermore, we want to keep the reaction as a whole in its simplest form as it is a representation, so to have extra molecules in this equation will be superfluous.
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Re: Balancing number of electrons
You can theoretically multiply the equations by any higher multiple as long as the electrons cancel out, but it's standard convention to have the coefficients in the final equation in their lowest whole number forms.
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Re: Balancing number of electrons
I don't think it matters until the end. You can just divide all of them to make them as simple as possible.
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Re: Balancing number of electrons
Yes, you multiply by the least common multiple so you can get the electrons to cancel on both sides.
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Re: Balancing number of electrons
It would make most sense the multiply by the least common multiple so you won't have to do additional simplification at the end, however theoretically you could multiply by any multiple as long as the electrons cancel out
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Re: Balancing number of electrons
It does not matter what coefficient you use as long as the electrons cancel out in the end because you can always simplify the equations.
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Re: Balancing number of electrons
The electrons on the left side of the equation must cancel with the electrons on the right side of the equation. It is simplest to do this using the least common multiple. However, as long as the electrons cancel, you can use a higher multiple and then simplify the equation after.
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Re: Balancing number of electrons
It doesn't matter how you multiply as long as everything cancels out. However, it's most convenient to multiply by the least common factor
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