2006-11-30 01:22:48 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
2 (OH-) minus 2 e- = H2O + [O]....we have removed the a e- from each hydroxide(OH-) to give H20 and [O], this [O] shown in square brackets denotes nascent oxygen, which is produced during the reaction, this combines with another nascent oxygen to give us oxygen molecule O2
hence a better reaction would be multiiplies the above by 2
4 (OH-) minus 4 e- = 2H2O + O2 balanced!
2006-11-30 06:59:38 · answer #1 · answered by i_dhruv 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mr. Chans answer doesn't balance....two electrons added to hydroxide don't give water (which has the same oxidation state as water) and oxygen (which would presumably be from the oxidation of water). The product side of the equation are oxidized relative to the reactants yet there are two electrons present added..
I am not clear what the O species on the product side is...is it O(with two minus charges?)? If so, the reaction is theoretically possible but does not occur spontaneously. The thermodynamics of the reaction dictate that the O(2-) is strongly basic and will deprotonate water to form two hydroxide reactions. O2- is less stable than OH- because of the double charge localized on a single atom compared to a single charge on two OH-'s. Since I don't know what the nature of the O species, I will stop there.
2006-11-30 10:09:27 · answer #2 · answered by Robert L. D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
2[OH-] -2e => H2O + O
2006-11-30 09:32:14 · answer #3 · answered by James Chan 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋