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Topic: How to balance redox  (Read 2406 times)

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Offline makonia

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How to balance redox
« on: September 09, 2014, 11:25:22 AM »
How do I balance this reaction:
KMnO4 → K2MnO4 + MnO2 + O2
Mn is redused to both +4 and +6, also they both come from the same molecule.

Offline sjb

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Re: How to balance redox
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2014, 12:23:50 PM »
How do I balance this reaction:
KMnO4 → K2MnO4 + MnO2 + O2
Mn is redused to both +4 and +6, also they both come from the same molecule.

So manganese is reduced - you can write two half equations for that. Is anything oxidised?

Offline AdiDex

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Re: How to balance redox
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2014, 01:12:01 PM »
Is this redox reaction in acidic medium or basic medium or nothing is given to you...?

Offline makonia

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Re: How to balance redox
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2014, 01:27:37 PM »
The only thing given is that the process is done by heating up KMnO4 in order to produce oxygen.

I suppose i could write two half equations, but they specifically ask that i solve it by oxidation numbers which confuses me because I don't know how to do that when it is redused into two different oxidation numbers. The one that is oxidised is oxygen, which goes from -2 to 0

Offline makonia

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Re: How to balance redox
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2014, 01:58:39 PM »
The way I think Mn starts as +7 and is then reduced to +6 in K2MnO4 and +4 in the other one. that way it receives 4 electrons combined and since oxygen only gives two I have to dobble the amount of oxygen on both sides of the equation. Does this make any sense or am I completely lost right now?

Offline Borek

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Re: How to balance redox
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2014, 02:10:42 PM »
I would not bother with treating it as redox. Start balancing potassium.
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Offline makonia

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Re: How to balance redox
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2014, 02:17:15 PM »
Thank you! figured it out now :)
« Last Edit: September 09, 2014, 02:28:29 PM by makonia »

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