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For example, the Daniell galvanic cell's copper electrode is the positive terminal and the cathode. A battery that is recharging or an electrolytic cell performing electrolysis has its cathode as the negative terminal, from which current exits the device and returns to the external generator as charge enters the battery/ cell.
The electrical energy provided can produce a chemical reaction that would otherwise not occur spontaneously. Michael Faraday defined the cathode of a cell as the electrode to which cations (positively charged ions, such as silver ions Ag +) flow within the cell, to be reduced by reacting with electrons (negatively charged) from that electrode.
The cathode is in many ways the opposite of the anode. The name (also coined by Whewell) comes from the Greek words κάτω (kato), 'downwards' and ὁδός (hodós), 'a way'. It is the positive electrode, meaning the electrons flow from the electrical circuit through the cathode into the non-metallic part of the electrochemical cell.
The cathode is the electrode where reduction (gain of electrons) takes place (metal B electrode); in a galvanic cell, it is the positive electrode, as ions get reduced by taking up electrons from the electrode and plate out (while in electrolysis, the cathode is the negative terminal and attracts positive ions from the solution).
When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negative terminal is the anode. [2] The terminal marked negative is the source of electrons. When a battery is connected to an external electric load, those negatively charged electrons flow through the circuit and reach to the positive terminal, thus cause a redox ...
A positive cell potential gives a negative change in Gibbs free energy. This is consistent with the cell production of an electric current from the cathode to the anode through the external circuit. If the current is driven in the opposite direction by imposing an external potential, then work is done on the cell to drive electrolysis.
The protons flow from the anode to the cathode through the electrolyte after the reaction. At the same time, electrons are drawn from the anode to the cathode through an external circuit, producing direct current electricity. [citation needed] cathode At the cathode, another catalyst causes hydrogen ions, electrons, and oxygen to react, forming ...
As a result, a negative charge cloud develops in the electrolyte around the cathode, and a positive charge develops around the anode. The ions in the electrolyte neutralize these charges, enabling the electrons to keep flowing and the reactions to continue. [citation needed]