Can anyone PLEASE explain Redox to me I really need help it's a basic formation problem? 10 Points Best Answer

I'm not sure if I'm doing this right but for the formation of aluminium sulfide you go:

Step 1:
Al -> Al3+ +3e- (x ?)
S8 + 16e- -> 8S2-(x ?)
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So the electrons don't match up so I know I have to get them to be equal. so I have to multiply both sides by something but I'm not sure what. And I cannot redo the equation if I'm not sure what to multiply by. Please help. Thanks for your time.

1 Al(0) ----> 1 Al(+3) + 3 e-
1 S8(0) + 16 e- ---> 8 S(-2)

multiply the top by 16 and the bottom by 3 to get
16 Al(0) ----> 16 Al(+3) + 48 e-
3 S8(0) + 48 e- ---> 24 S(-2)

Equation is Al(s) + S(s) => Al2S3(s)

2Al => 2Al3+ + 6e-
3S + 6e- => 3S2-

Aluminium gains stability by losing three electrons on its outermost shell/energy level. Sulphur gains stability by gaining two electrons onto its outermost shell. I suppose your mistake was considering Sulphur as it occurs naturally.

I offer this:

http://www.chemteam.info/Redox/Redox.htm…

in te hope you will find it helpful.