How do you balance oxidation-reduction equations?

[gigi9]

Someone please give me a good explanation on how to "Balance Oxidation- Reduction Equations." Plz show me the steps and an example of how to do this type of equations. Thanks a lot.

 

[Chemicalsuperfreak]

First figure out the oxidation state of all relevant atoms, you should have learned the oxidation number rules by now. After that, it's mostly plugging and chugging, making sure the electrons to the right equals the electrons to the left. It takes practice, just like when you learned to balance simple reactions.

Give an example and we'll see if we can work through it.