Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Half reactions can be written to describe both the metal undergoing oxidation (known as the anode) and the metal undergoing reduction (known as the cathode). Half reactions are often used as a method of balancing redox reactions. For oxidation-reduction reactions in acidic conditions, after balancing the atoms and oxidation numbers, one will ...
The auxiliary electrode functions as a cathode whenever the working electrode is operating as an anode and vice versa. The auxiliary electrode often has a surface area much larger than that of the working electrode to ensure that the half-reaction occurring at the auxiliary electrode can occur fast enough so as not to limit the process at the ...
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 terms anode and cathode are not defined by the voltage polarity of electrodes, but are usually defined by the direction of current through the electrode. An anode usually is the electrode of a device through which conventional current (positive charge) flows into the device from an external circuit, while a cathode usually is the electrode through which conventional current flows out of ...
Each half-reaction has a standard electrode potential (E o cell), which is equal to the potential difference or voltage at equilibrium under standard conditions of an electrochemical cell in which the cathode reaction is the half-reaction considered, and the anode is a standard hydrogen electrode where hydrogen is oxidized: [24] 1 ⁄ 2 H 2 → ...
) ions flow to the anode to release electrons and a hydrogen (H +) ion to produce oxygen gas in an oxidation reaction. In molten sodium chloride (NaCl), when a current is passed through the salt the anode oxidizes chloride ions (Cl −) to chlorine gas, it releases electrons to the anode. Likewise, the cathode reduces sodium ions (Na +
In electrochemistry, a half-cell is a structure that contains a conductive electrode and a surrounding conductive electrolyte separated by a naturally occurring Helmholtz double layer. Chemical reactions within this layer momentarily pump electric charges between the electrode and the electrolyte, resulting in a potential difference between the ...
Depending on whether the reaction on the electrode is a reduction or an oxidation, the working electrode is called cathodic or anodic, respectively. Common working electrodes can consist of materials ranging from noble metals such as gold or platinum , to inert carbon such as glassy carbon , boron -doped diamond [ 4 ] or pyrolytic carbon , and ...