Electrochemistry Flashcards
What are oxidation and reduction?
Many chemical reactions involve the transfer of electrons.
Oxidation results in the loss of electrons and reduction involves the gain of electrons. LEO (lose electrons-oxidation) says GER (gain electrons-reduction) is an easy way to memorize the terms.
What is a redox reaction?
Often times, chemists call oxidation-reduction reactions, that are occurring at the same time, redox for short.
What are spectator ions?
In net ionic equations, cross off entities that exist on both sides of the reaction arrow. These are called spectator ions, as they don’t take part in the chemical reaction.
What are half-reactions?
A reaction equation that represents either the loss or gain of electrons is called a half-reaction.
A half-reaction that represents the loss of electrons is called an oxidation half-reaction. A half-reaction that represents the gain of electrons is called a reduction half-reaction. Two half-reactions will make up a total reaction. This is called a reduction-oxidation reaction or redox reaction, for short.
What are reducing and oxidizing agents?
A reducing agent gives up electrons to another substance - reduces it.
An oxidizing agent removes electrons from another substance - oxidizes it by gaining electrons.
What are anodes and cathodes?
The anode is the electrode where oxidation occurs.
The cathode is the electrode where reduction occurs.
What is a galvanic cell?
A galvanic cell, also called a voltaic cell, is a type of electrochemical cell that is capable of producing electric current from the energy released by a redox reaction.
What is electrode potential?
In electrochemical cells, the difference in potential between an electrode and its solution is its electrode potential, E.
The electrode potential of a reduction half-reaction is its reduction potential. Conversely, the electrode potential of an oxidation half-reaction is its oxidation potential.
What is an electrode?
An electrode is a conductive material that allows the flow of electric current into or out of a medium, typically a solution or a gas.
What is cell potential (Ecell)?
Cell potential is the measure of the potential difference (voltage) between the two electrodes of an electrochemical cell. It indicates the ability of a cell to drive an electric current through an external circuit.
What is electrolysis?
Electrolysis is a process in which an electric current is used to drive a non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Essentially, it is the use of electricity to cause a chemical change that would not otherwise occur naturally.
What is an electrolytic cell?
An electrolytic cell is a type of electrochemical cell that uses an external electric current to drive a non-spontaneous chemical reaction.
Unlike a galvanic cell (or voltaic cell), where a chemical reaction generates an electric current, an electrolytic cell requires energy input to cause the reaction.
What is Faraday’s first law?
Faraday’s first law of electrolysis states the mass of a substance produced at an electrode during electrolysis is proportional to the number of moles of electrons transferred at that electrode.
What is 96 500 C / mol e ^ -
Faraday constant (F).
What is corrosion?
Corrosion is a loss of an electron of metals reacting with water or oxygen.
