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Answer 1 · 2015-08-01T21:12:31

Check the oxidation numbers — in a disproportionation reaction the same substance is simultaneously oxidized and reduced.

An example is the disproportionation of chlorine in basic solution.

The unbalanced equation is

#"Cl"_2 + "OH"^(-) → "Cl"^(-) + "OCl"^(-) + "H"_2"O"#.

If you check the oxidation numbers, you will find

# stackrel(color(blue)(0))("Cl")_2 + "OH"^(-) → stackrel(color(blue)(-1))("Cl")""^(-) + "O" stackrel(color(blue)(+1))("Cl")""^(-) + "H"_2"O"#.

#"Cl"# has been oxidized from #"ON=0"# to #"ON=+1"# and reduced from #"ON=0"# to #"ON = -1"#.

Some other examples from Socratic are the disproportionation of