Chapter 14: Electrochemical Cells: Flashcards
What is an electric cell?
A device that continuously converts chemical energy to electrical energy.
What is a battery?
A group of 2 or more electric cells connected to each other in series.
What is an electric cell composed of?
An electric cell is typically composed of 2 electrodes (solid metal conductors) and 1 electrolyte (aqueous electrical conductor).
What are the names of the positive and negative electrodes?
Cathode (+) and Anode (-).
What is electricity?
The flow of electrons.
What is electric potential difference, or voltage?
The energy difference per unit charge measured in volts (V).
What is the voltage of a cell depend on?
The chemical composition of the reactants inside the cell.
What is electric current?
Measured by an ammeter in amperes (A), it is a measure of the rate of flow of charge.
How is voltage affected by an increase in cell size?
It is not affected since it is the ratio of energy to charge.
What is the effect of an increase in cell size on electric current?
The greater the cell size, the greater the current that can be produced by the cell.
How is charge measured?
The charge transferred by a cell/battery is measured in coulombs (C) and expresses the total charge transferred by the movement of charged particles.
How do electrons flow in an electric cell?
Electrons in an electric cell from through the external circuit from anode to the cathode.
What are primary cells?
Cells that cannot be recharged.
What are secondary cells?
Cells that can be recharged by using electricity to reverse the chemical reaction that occurs when electricity is produced by the cell.
What are fuel cells?
Cells that produce electricity by the reaction of a fuel continuously supplied to keep the cell operating. Fuel cells (such as hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell) generate energy more efficiently and without producing greenhouse gases, unlike the burning of fossil fuels.
What is a voltaic cell?
An arrangement of 2 half-cells separated by a porous boundary.
What is a porous boundary?
A physical barrier that separates 2 electrolytes while permitting ions to move between the 2 solutions. This salt bridge maintains electrical neutrality of the 2 solutions by doing this.
What is a half-cell?
An electrode-electrolyte combination forming one half of an electric cell.
What to look into?
pg.623, and search online/in labs experimental evidence of electric cells in action.
What happens at the cathode of a voltaic cell?
The cathode is where reduction occurs.
What happens at the anode of a voltaic cell?
The anode is where oxidation occurs.
What is the SOA doing in a voltaic cell?
In a voltaic cell, the strongest oxidizing agent undergoes reduction at the cathode (since electrons flow from anode to cathode).
What is the SRA doing in a voltaic cell?
In a voltaic cell, the strongest reducing agent undergoes oxidation at the anode.
What is an inert electrode?
An unreactive solid conductor in a cell that provides a location to connect a wire and a surface on which a half-reaction can occur.