Question #e3210
1 Answer
By separating the individual redox reactions, and assigning oxidation numbers.
Explanation:
Silver metal is oxidized to silver ion:
Nitrate ion is reduced to nitrogen monoxide:
We add these half equations together to eliminate the electrons:
Is this balanced with respect to mass and charge? If it is not, it cannot be accepted as a representation of chemical (i.e. physical) reality.
While it might seem a little abstract to include electrons as fundamental reactants and products in these redox transfer processes, their use, as a convenient little fiction, allows us to address these types of problems.
For another example of this type of redox process, see [here.](https://socratic.org/questions/how-can-i-adjust-this-redox-equation-h2o2-crcl3-koh-k2cro4-kcl-h2o-thanks) And also see [here and links for other examples.](https://socratic.org/questions/by-half-reaction-method-1)
