The same procedure as used in acidic medium can be applied, for example, to balance the complete combustion of propane:
:Unbalanced reaction: CH + O → CO + HO
:Reduction: 4 H + O + 4 e → 2 HO
:Oxidation: 6 HO + CH → 3 CO + 20 e + 20 H
By multiplying the stoichiometric coefficients so the numbers of electrons in both half reaction match:
:20 H + 5 O + 20 e → 10 HO
:6 HO + CH → 3 CO + 20 e + 20 H
the balanced equation is obtained:
:CH + 5 O → 3 CO + 4 HO