\(\frac{12 H _{2} O + S _{8} \longrightarrow 4 S _{2} O _{3}^{2-}+24 H ^{+}+16 e ^{\circ}}{2 S _{8}+12 H _{2} O \longrightarrow 8 S ^{2-}+4 S _{2} O _{3}^{2-}+24 H }\)

for balancing in basic medium add equal number of \(OH ^{\ominus}\) that of \(H ^{+}\)

\(2 S _{8}+12 H _{2} O +24 OH ^{\ominus} \longrightarrow 8 S ^{2-}+4 S _{2} O _{8}^{2-}\)

\(+24 H _{2} O\)

\(2 S _{8}+24 OH ^{\ominus} \rightarrow 8 S ^{2-}+4 S _{2} O _{8}^{2-}+12 H _{2} O\)

\(S _{8}+12 OH ^{\ominus} \rightarrow 4 S ^{2-}+2 S _{2} O _{8}^{2-}+6 H _{2} O\)

\(a =12\)