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Question

Balance the following equations in basic medium by ion-electron method and oxidation number methods and identify the oxidising agent and the reducing agent.
P4(s)+OH(aq)PH3(g)+HPO2(aq)

N2H4(I)+CIO3(aq)NO(g)+CI(g)

Cl2O7(g)+H2O2(aq)CIO2(aq)+O2(g)+H+(aq)

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Solution

The O.N. (oxidation number) of P decreases from 0 in P4to3inPH3 and increases from 0 in P4to+2 in HPO2. Hence, P4 acts both as an oxidizing agent and a reducing agent in this reaction.
Ion–electron method:
The oxidation half equation is:
P4(s)HPO2(aq)
The P atom is balanced as:
0P4(s)4H2+PO2(aq)
The O.N. is balanced by adding 8 electrons as:
P4(s)4HPO2(aq)+8e
The charge is balanced by adding 12OH as:
P4(s)+12OH(aq)4HPO2(aq)+8e
The H and O atoms are balanced by adding 4H2O as:
P4(s)+12OH(aq)4HPO2(aq)+4H2O(I)+8e......(i)
The reduction half equation is:
P4(s)PH3(g)
The P atom is balanced as
0P4(s)43PH3(g)
The O.N. is balanced by adding 12 electrons as:
P4(s)+12e4PH3(g)
The charge is balanced by adding 12OH as:
P4(s)+12e4PH3(g)+12OH(aq)
The O and H atoms are balanced by adding 12H2O as:
P4(s)+12H2O(I)+12e4PH3(g)+12HO(aq) (ii)
By multiplying equation (i) with 3 and (ii) with 2 and then adding them, the balanced chemical equation can be obtained as:
5P4(s)+12H2O(I)+12HO(aq)8PH3(g)+12HPO2(aq)


The oxidation number of N increases from – 2 in N2H4 to + 2 in NO and the oxidation number of Cl decreases from + 5 in CIO3 to – 1 in Cl. Hence, in this reaction, N2H4 is the reducing agent and CIO3 is the oxidizing agent.
Ion - electron method:
The oxidation half equation is:
2N2H4(I)+2NO(g)
The N atoms are balanced as:
N2H4(I)2NO(g)+8e
The charge is balanced by adding 8 OH ions as:
N2H4(I)+8OH(aq)2NO(g)+8e
The O atoms are balanced by adding 6H2O as:
N2H4(I)+8OH(aq)2NO(g)+6H2O(I)+8e......(i)
The reduction half equation is:
+5CIO3(aq)1CI(aq)
The oxidation number is balanced by adding 6 electrons as:
CIO3(aq)+6eCl(aq)
The charge is balanced by adding 6OH ions as:
ClO3(aq)+6eCl(aq)+6OH(aq)
The O atoms are balanced by adding 3H2O as:
CIO3(aq)+3H2O(I)+6eCl(aq)+6OH(aq).......(ii)
The balanced equation can be obtained by multiplying equation (i) with 3 and equation (ii) with 4 and then adding them as:
3N2H4(I)+4ClO3(aq)6NO(g)+4Cl(aq)+6H2O(I)
Oxidation number method:
Total decrease in oxidation number of N=2×4=8
Total increase in oxidation number of Cl=1×6=6
On multiplying N2H4 with 3 and CIO3 with 4 to balance the increase and decrease in O.N.,
we get:
3N2H4(I)+4CIO3(aq)NO(g)+CI(aq)
The N and Cl atoms are balanced as:
3N2H4(I)+4CIO3(aq)6NO(g)+4CI(aq)
The O atoms are balanced by adding 6H2O as:
3N2H4(I)+4CIO3(aq)6NO(g)+4CI(aq)+6H2O(I)
This is the required balanced equation.


The oxidation number of Cl decreases from + 7 in Cl2O7 to + 3 in CIO2 and the oxidation number of O increases from -1 in H2O2 to zero in O2. Hence, in this reaction, Cl2O7 is the
oxidizing agent and H2O2 is the reducing agent.
Ion–electron method:
The oxidation half equation is:
H21O2(aq)0O2(g)
The oxidation number is balanced by adding 2 electrons as:
H2O2(aq)+O2(g)+2e
The charge is balanced by adding 2OH ions as:
H2O2(aq)+2OH(aq)O2(g)+2e
The oxygen atoms are balanced by adding 2H2O as:
H2O2(aq)+2OH(aq)O2(g)+2H2O(I)+2e(i)
The reduction half equation is:
+7Cl2O7(g)+3CIO2(aq)
The Cl atoms are balanced as:
Cl2O2(g)2CIO2(aq)
The oxidation number is balanced by adding 8 electrons as:
Cl2O7(g)+8e2CIO2(aq)
The charge is balanced by adding 6OH as:
Cl2O7(g)+8e2CIO2(aq)+6OH(aq)
The oxygen atoms are balanced by adding 3H2O as:
Cl2O7(g)+3H2OI8e2CIO2(aq)+6OH(aq) (ii)
The balanced equation can be obtained by multiplying equation (i) with 4 and adding equation (ii) to it as:
Cl2O7(g)+4H2O2(aq)+2OH(aq)2CIO2(aq)+4O2(aq)+5H2O(I)
Oxidation number method:
Total decrease in oxidation number of Cl2O7=4×2=8
Total increase in oxidation number of H2O2=2×1=2
By multiplying H2O2 and O2 with 4 to balance the increase and decrease in the oxidation number, we get:
Cl2O7(g)+4H2O2(aq)CIO2(aq)+4O2(g)
The Cl atoms are balanced as:
Cl2O7(g)+4H2O2(aq)2CIO2(aq)+4O2(g)
The O atoms are balanced by adding 3H2O as:
Cl2O7(g)+4H2O2(aq)2CIO2(aq)+4O2(g)+3H2O(I)
The H atoms are balanced by adding 2OH and 2H2O as:
Cl2O7(g)+4H2O2(aq)+2OH(aq)2CIO2(g)+4O2(g)+5H2O(I)
This is the required balanced equation.


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