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Topic: Balancing Equations  (Read 967 times)

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Offline CubeRoot

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Balancing Equations
« on: September 10, 2020, 10:51:40 PM »
Do I need to check the charges every time? If not, how do you know when to check for charges?

Thanks in advance for answering :)

Offline chenbeier

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Re: Balancing Equations
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2020, 02:07:31 AM »
Yes, the charges and the amount of atoms must be equal on both sides.

Offline CubeRoot

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Re: Balancing Equations
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2020, 03:10:42 AM »
Thanks!

I have an additional question. If there's no explicitly stated charge should I not worry about the oxidation number?

Offline Borek

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Re: Balancing Equations
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2020, 06:54:59 AM »
Broadly speaking oxidation numbers can be safely ignored all the time. Atoms and charges are real things that are conserved, oxidation numbers are made up and don't reflect any real/measurable property of atoms. They are often quite useful and help in balancing, but everything that can be balanced can be also balanced without them.
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Offline CubeRoot

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Re: Balancing Equations
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2020, 11:29:14 PM »
Oooh nicee! Thanks! This has been really helpful   ;D

Online Babcock_Hall

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Re: Balancing Equations
« Reply #5 on: September 12, 2020, 03:08:18 PM »
Oxidation numbers can help us understand the chemistry more clearly.

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