Balance Redox Reaction Essay Example

Balance Redox Reaction Essay Example Balance Redox Reaction Essay Balance Redox Reaction Essay How to Balance Redox Equations Redox equations are often so complex that fiddling with coefficients to balance chemical equations doesn’t always work well. Chemists have developed an alternative method (in addition to the oxidation number method) that is called the ion-electron (half-reaction) method. In the ion-electron method, the unbalanced redox equation is converted to the ionic equation and then broken down into two half-reactions - oxidation and reduction. Each of these half-reactions is balanced separately and then combined to give the balanced ionic equation. Finally, the spectator ions are put into the balanced ionic equation, converting the reaction back to the molecular form. It’s important to follow the steps precisely and in the order listed. Otherwise, you may not be successful in balancing redox equations. The example below shows you how to use the ion-electron method to balance this redox equation: Follow these steps: 1. Convert the unbalanced redox reaction to the ionic form. In this reaction, you show the nitric acid in the ionic form, because it’s a strong acid. Copper(II) nitrate is soluble (indicated by (aq)), so it’s shown in its ionic form. Because NO(g) and water are molecular compounds, they remain shown in the molecular form: 2. If necessary, assign oxidation numbers and then write two half-reactions (oxidation and reduction) showing the chemical species that have had their oxidation numbers changed. In some cases, it’s easy to tell what has been oxidized and reduced; but in other cases, it isn’t as easy. Start by going through the example reaction and assigning oxidation numbers. You can then use the chemical species that have had their oxidation numbers changed to write your unbalanced half-reactions: Copper changed its oxidation number (from 0 to 2) and so has nitrogen (from –2 to +2). Your unbalanced half-reactions are: 3. Balance all atoms, with the exception of oxygen and hydrogen. It’s a good idea to wait until the end to balance hydrogen and oxygen atoms, so always balance the other atoms first. You can balance them by fiddling with the coefficients. (You can’t change subscripts; you can only add coefficients. ) However, in this particular case, both the copper and nitrogen atoms already balance, with one each on both sides: 4. Balance the oxygen atoms. How you balance these atoms depends on whether you’re dealing with acid or basic solutions: * In acid solutions, take the number of oxygen atoms needed and add that same number of water molecules to the side that needs oxygen. * In basic solutions, add to the side that needs oxygen for every oxygen atom that is needed. Then, to the other side of the equation, add half as many water molecules as anions used. The example equation is in acidic conditions. There’s nothing to do on the half-reaction involving the copper, because there are no oxygen atoms present. But you do need to balance the oxygen atoms in the second half-reaction: 1. Balance the hydrogen atoms. Again, how you balance these atoms depends on whether you’re dealing with acid or basic solutions: * In acid solutions, take the number of hydrogen atoms needed and add that same number of to the side that needs hydrogen. * In basic solutions, add one water molecule to the side that needs hydrogen for every hydrogen atom that’s needed. Then, to the other side of the equation, add as many anions as water molecules used. The example equation is in acidic conditions. You need to balance the hydrogen atoms in the second half-reaction: 2. Balance the ionic charge on each half-reaction by adding electrons. The electrons should end up on opposite sides of the equation in the two half-reactions. Remember that you’re using ionic charge, not oxidation numbers. Oxidation: Reduction: 3. Balance electron loss with electron gain between the two half-reactions. The electrons that are lost in the oxidation half-reaction are the same electrons that are gained in the reduction half-reaction. The number of electrons lost and gained must be the same. But Step 6 shows a loss of 2 electrons and a gain of 3. So you must adjust the numbers using appropriate multipliers for both half-reactions. In this case, you have to find the lowest common denominator between 2 and 3. It’s 6, so multiply the first half-reaction by 3 and the second half-reaction by 2. 4. Add the two half-reactions together and cancel anything common to both sides. The electrons should always cancel (the number of electrons should be the same on both sides). 5. Convert the equation back to the molecular form by adding the spectator ions. If it’s necessary to add spectator ions to one side of the equation, add the same number to the other side of the equation. 6. Check to make sure that all the atoms are balanced, all the charges are balanced (if working with an ionic equation at the beginning), and all the coefficients are in the lowest whole-number ratio. Reactions that take place in base are just as Read more: dummies. com/how-to/content/how-to-balance-redox-equations. html#ixzz1SAYBH2vl

The Essence Of Power Gandhi v Hitler essays

The Essence Of Power Gandhi v Hitler essays In the late 1800s and the early 1900s the people of northern Europe, southern Africa and Asia were in despair. They had no leaders. They were defenseless. India had been taken over by the British Empire and now the 315 million Indians were under the rule of the 100 thousand British soldiers there. In Germany there were six different political groups; nobody knew what to do. These countries were in shock, they need a change, but more importantly, they needed a leader. Mohandas K. Gandhi was a law student, born and raised in India, but schooled in England. Early on in his career he returned to his birthplace and attempted to practice law there, but he was very unsuccessful. A few years later he moved to South Africa, and again attempted to set up a law practice there. But South Africa was now in British control and the Indian lawyer was subjected to a lot of racial prejudice. Almost immediately he was abused because of his heritage and his law practice went down the drain. Gandhi began to notice the awful discriminations that all Indians suffered from. In 1894 he began a movement that would shape the way that Indians are viewed even today. He began to take charge; he began to lead his people. Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria in 1889, about the time that Gandhi was realizing his mission in life. Like Mohandas K. Gandhi, Hitler was very smart as a child. Being the son of a public servant, he was able to attend the best schools and was able to partake in any extra-curricular activities he desired. All his father wanted was for his son to follow in his footsteps and attain the rank of public servant or even better, but the boy was very stubborn and when his father refused to let him chase a career as an artist, he decided to stop doing his work, and his grades began to fall drastically. When his father died he quit school and for the next few years lived off his familys money. He did nothi...

Securing our Borders Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Securing our Borders - Thesis Example borders with Mexico and Canada. Several sources indicated the need for greater border security through a wide range of technological, legislative, and military interventions (Meyers, 2003; Military Technology, 2010), as well as global agreements (Taylor, 2005). Despite the need of securing the borders, however, there are also calls for the consideration of ethical and human rights dimensions of border security (Arreolo, 2010). The U.S. government is also pressed to consider the rights of poor workers and people searching for an asylum to migrate to the U.S., where they can find shelter, freedom, and livelihood. In addition, some sources argued for the importance of understanding cultural geography, when finding and evaluating solutions to border issues (Arreolo, 2010). The borders are not seen as boundaries by illegal immigrants, but as opportunities for a new and better life (Hemphill, 2009; Huemer, 2010). This paper will explore the literature on the U.S. borders and border securit y. The research questions are: What are some of the strategies that the U.S. government should pursue to enhance border security? Should the government ensure that these interventions are humane and ethical? This paper will discuss existing border patrol strategies. It will also discuss recommended strategies that aim to enhance border security. ... Finally, it examines the ethical implications of border security measures and the need for international efforts for managing borders. The Honey of Illegal and Legal Immigrant Bees One of the primary goals of border security is to control immigration, particularly illegal immigration (Marek, 2007). The U.S. continues to symbolize the land of milk and honey for many people around the world, especially those from the Third World. An estimated 500 million people cross the U.S. borders every year, and this consists of people seeking for employment or business opportunities and refugees, as well as unfavorable border crossers, such as criminals and terrorists (Antal, 2010, p.54). The U.S. prides itself as a democratic front for human rights that include the rights to travel and immigrate to other countries. The U.S., despite immigration controls, accepts more legal immigrants as permanent residents than all other countries combined (Antal, 2010, p.54). In 2008, more than a million immigra nts became natural U.S. citizens (Antal, 2010, p.54). In 2009, the U.S. granted legal immigrant status to 1.1 million immigrants (Antal, 2010, p.54). The U.S. however, also controls the number of legal immigrants, which push some people to resort to illegal immigration methods. Illegal immigration remains as significant concern, since the U.S. cannot realistically put enough people to monitor wide borders. The U.S.-Canada border extends 5,525 miles; while the border with Mexico covers 1,989 miles long (Antal, 2010, p.54). Furthermore, the U.S. also envelops more than 95,000 miles of shoreline, thousands of airports, and 360 naval ports of entry (Antal, 2010, p.54). It is projected that almost 22,000 containers cross these naval