Balancing number of electrons

[veneziaramirez 3I]

To balance the number of electrons between the two half-reactions, we multiply each reaction by the least common multiple?

[Jasmine Botello 2F]

Yes because you want to make sure that the electrons cancel out when you write the final balanced redox reaction.

[lindsay lathrop 2C]

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.

[Jennifer Ho 1K]

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.

[Ozhen Atoyan 1F]

I don't think it matters until the end. You can just divide all of them to make them as simple as possible.

[Jaewoo Jo 2L]

Yes, you multiply by the least common multiple so you can get the electrons to cancel on both sides.

[Veronica Rasmusen 2B]

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

[Caroline LaPlaca]

You gotta make sure all the electrons are balanced.

[Ashley Macabasco 2K]

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.

[Emma Miltenberger 2I]

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.

[Yea Eun Lee 1H]

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