Everything we discussed so far was about Galvanic cells which generate electric current because of spontaneous redox reactions. Galvanic cells, therefore, are characterized by positive cell potential (E) and negative free energy (ΔG). The classic example for illustrating the principle … Read more
Galvanic cells are a type of electrochemical cell (also called voltaic cells and commonly known as batteries) where a spontaneous redox reaction generates an electric current. Another type of electrochemical cell is the electrolytic cell where, opposite to the galvanic … Read more
When discussing the principles of electrolysis, we have seen that reduction of metal cations takes place on the cathode, and as a result, there is an accumulation of that metal. This feature of electrolysis is used in electroplating which is … Read more
During the electrolysis of water, hydrogen and oxygen gases are produced according to the following chemical equation: 2H2O(l) → 2H2(g) + O2(g) Notice that free elements are formed from a compound which indicates that this is a redox reaction … Read more
We have seen earlier that galvanic cells have a positive cell potential (negative Gibbs free energy) which makes them spontaneous. This means that, just like for any other process, the reverse reaction of any spontaneous redox reaction will be nonspontaneous … Read more
We have seen in the previous post that the cell potential depends not only on the type of the metal but also on the concentration of their electrolyte solutions. This is a cell under nonstandard conditions and its potential is … Read more
We have seen, in this chapter, that a positive standard cell potential (E°cell) indicates a spontaneous electrochemical reaction, and a negative sign corresponds to a nonspontaneous reaction. Now, recall from thermodynamics that we always referred to the Gibbs free energy … Read more
In the previous post, we talked about the Nernst equation which is used to calculate the cell potential under nonstandard conditions based on Eocell and the log of the reaction quotient. where Eo is the cell potential under standard … Read more
What is the Nernst Equation Used For? Nernst equation is used to calculate the cell potential under nonstandard conditions based on Eocell and the log of the reaction quotient. where Eo is the cell potential under standard conditions, n … Read more
Before discussing the standard cell potential, let’s remember that it applies to electrochemical cells. An electrochemical cell is a system where a redox reaction occurs between two cells that are connected by a wire. In an electrochemical cell, one component … Read more
