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Just like any other chemical equation, a redox reaction must be balanced for the law of conservation of mass (matter) to be obeyed. Unlike other chemical equations, balancing redox equations goes beyond making sure that the atom counts of the respective elements on both sides of the equation are the same. It also involves the balancing of charges, because the fundamental process in redox reactions is the transfer of electrons. Now, talking about charges, before you think of balancing a redox equation, we must first learn how to change the given equation into an ionic form. Let's consider the reaction between Zn and CuSO4 to form ZnSO4 and Cu as an example:                         Zn(s) + CuSO4(aq) ---> ZnSO4(aq) + Cu(s) ……(i) In the above reaction, zinc metal reacts with an aqueous solution of copper(II)tetraoxosulphate(VI) to form a mixture of aqueous solutio...

A redox reaction is a type of chemical reaction that involves two opposite, yet complementary processes - reduction and oxidation (redox). By being complementary, it means that one cannot occur without the other; while one is giving out, the other is receiving. We know that the act of giving can never be complete if there is nothing no one to receive. Therefore, while oxidation is the loss of electrons or increase in oxidation number, reduction is said to be gain of electrons or decrease (reduction) in oxidation number. Example :                       Zn(s) + Cu2+(aq) ---> Zn(aq) + Cu(s) In the above equation, the zinc metal displaces the copper(II)ion out of solution to form zinc ion and Cu metal. The oxidation state/number of zinc changes from 0 to +2 (increase) due to the loss of 2 electrons, while the oxidation state/number of copper changes from +2 to 0 (decrease) beca...