Cell notation

There are simple rules for assigning oxidation numbers. For most purposes, just two suffice  

In less straightforward cases, work through the rules below in order and stop when the oxidation number has been assigned. 

The sum of all the oxidation numbers of all the atoms in the species is equal to the total charge on the species. 

Atoms in elemental form have oxidation number 0. 

Ions have an oxidation number equal to the charge on the ion. 

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Shorthand Notation for Electrochemical Cells Although Figure 11.5 provides a useful picture of an electrochemical cell, it does not provide a convenient representation. A more useful representation is a shorthand, or schematic, notation that uses symbols to indicate the different phases present in the electrochemical cell, as well as the composition of each phase. A vertical slash ( ) indicates a phase boundary where a potential develops, and a comma (,) separates species in the same phase, or two phases where no potential develops. Shorthand cell notations begin with the anode and continue to the cathode. The electrochemical cell in Figure 11.5, for example, is described in shorthand notation as... 

Notice that the anode half-reaction comes first in the cell notation, just as the letter a comes before c. 

This reaction, like that between Zn and Cu2+, can serve as a source of electrical energy in a voltaic cell The cell is similar to that shown in Figure 18.2 except that, in the anode compartment, a nickel electrode is surrounded by a solution of a nickel(II) salt, such as NiCl2 or NiS04. The cell notation is Ni Ni2+ Cu2+ Cu. 

The cell notation is Zn Zn2+1 Co3+, Co2+ Pt Note that a comma separates the half-cell components that are in the same phase. The symbol Pt is used to indicate the presence of an inert platinum electrode. A single vertical line separates Pt (a solid) from the components of the half-cell, which are in the liquid phase. 

It is important to discuss cell notation and conventions. Instead of drawing a complete diagram to present electrochemical cells, it is convenient to specify a cell in line formula form or, as may be said, shorthand form. The Cu-Zn cell is thus presented as ... 

Take the two equations that decoded the standard cell notation and include the E° reduction and the E° oxidation voltages ... 

Cell notation is a shorthand notation of representing a galvanic cell. To write the cell notation for the Daniell cell you ... 

The oxidation of the ferrous ion to ferric doesn t involve a solid, so we must use an inert electrode, such as platinum. The cell notation would then be ... 

If, for example, you are given the cell notation, you could use this method to determine... 

In cell notation, be sure to write anode, anode compartment, salt bridge, cathode compartment, cathode in this specific order. 

The cell notation is a shorthand way of representing a cell. It has the form anode anode compartment cathode compartment cathode... 

This is called a symmetrical membrane arrangement. It is the original version found in all early ion-selective electrodes. The cell notation can be written as... 

Let us now return to the nonpolarized interface within the context of the working of the entire electrochemical cell, which we have to use in order to obtain useful information about concentration of fluoride ion, using (6.20). It is connected to a high-input impedance electrometer (e.gR > 10 2), so that current cannot pass through it. This ensures that the condition of zero current is satisfied. The general schematic of ISE is shown in Fig. 6.10a. In the usual cell notation we can write for the complete cell... 

The sources of measurement error are easily identifiable from Figure 4 and are represented in electrochemical cell notation as ... 

There are several other conventions relating to cell notation and nomenclature that you are expected to know ... 

If electrons flow from the left electrode to the right electrode (as depicted in the above cell notation) when the cell operates in its spontaneous direction, the potential of the right electrode will be higher than that of the left, and the cell potential will be positive. 

This reaction can be written in a form called cell notation to clearly describe the copper reduction reaction. 

Determine the overall cell reaction and the standard cell potential. Write the cell chemistry using cell notation with vertical lines separating components. 

Write the reaction using cell notation. When representing a reaction in cell notation, the species in the oxidation half-reaction are written first in the following order reactant product, or in this case,... 

For each of these pairs of half-reactions, write the balanced equation for the overall cell reaction and calculate the standard cell potential. Express the reaction using cell notation. You may wish to refer to Chapter 20 to review writing and balancing redox equations. 

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