User talk:Dsports1/sandbox

Hey Dsports1,

Professor Anthony assigned me to review your revised article, so here I go:

A half reaction is either the oxidation or reduction reaction component of a redox reaction. A half reaction is obtained by considering the change in oxidation states of individual substances involved in the redox reaction.[1] The half-reactions occur at an electrode of an electrochemical cell (Maybe mention that there are two electrodes in an electrochemical cell: an anode and a cathode, and that half reactions occur at both?).For oxidation reactions in acidic conditions, after balancing the atoms and oxidation numbers, one will need to add H+ ions to balance the charge in the half reaction. For oxidation reactions in basic conditions, after balancing the atoms and oxidation numbers, one will need to add OH- ions to balance the charge in the half reactions. Then, under both conditions one will need to add H2O to balance the H atoms. After balancing the oxidation half-reaction, the reduction half reaction is left. This is balanced by balancing the atoms and then adding electrons to balance the oxidation numbers. (Remember that the whole reaction is called an "oxidation-reduction reaction" and that when they occur in acidic solutions, one species will be reduced while the other is oxidized. Look at Page 147 in the textbook for more info on balancing redox reactions in acidic/basic solutions. When balancing oxidation-reduction reactions that occur in basic solution, we should treat it as if it were in acidic conditions and at the end add the OH- ions to balance out the H+ ions which would give H20)

Nice work overall, this should definitely help future electrochemistry students by giving them a procedure on how to balance these things. Hope that helps.

Clee845 (talk) 06:40, 21 May 2013 (UTC)