Electrical potential difference

Electric potential difference U, AV Eermi, unit of length f... 

For an ion traveling in a straight line in a complete vacuum, where there are no collisions, the velocity of the ion depends only on the electric potential difference through which it was accelerated, as shown by Equation 49.1 and Figure 49.4a. 

The fourth fully developed membrane process is electrodialysis, in which charged membranes are used to separate ions from aqueous solutions under the driving force of an electrical potential difference. The process utilizes an electrodialysis stack, built on the plate-and-frame principle, containing several hundred individual cells formed by a pair of anion- and cation-exchange membranes. The principal current appHcation of electrodialysis is the desalting of brackish groundwater. However, industrial use of the process in the food industry, for example to deionize cheese whey, is growing, as is its use in poUution-control appHcations. 

Corrosion occurs at the anode, where metal dissolves. Often, this is separated by a physical distance from the cathode, where a reduction reaction takes place. An electrical potential difference exists between these sites, and current flows through the solution from the anode to the cathode. This is accompanied by the flow of electrons from the anode to the cathode through the metal (Fig. 8). 

Galvanic Corrosion. Galvanic corrosion occurs when two dissimilar metals are in contact in a solution. The contact must be good enough to conduct electricity, and both metals must be exposed to the solution. The driving force for galvanic corrosion is the electric potential difference that develops between two metals. This difference increases as the distance between the metals in the galvanic series increases. 

Equation (22-66) assumes that all mass transport is caused by an electrical potential difference ac ting only on cations and anions. Assuming the transfer of electrical charges is due to the transfer of... 

The basic reasons for grounding an electrical supply system are to limit the electrical potential difference (voltage) between all uninsulated conductive equipment in the area to provide isolation of faults in the system and to limit overvoltage on the system under various conditions. In the case of a grounded system it is essential to ground at each separately derived voltage level. 

FIGURE 10.2 The passive diffusion of a charged species across a membrane depends upon the concentration and also on the charge of the particle, Z, and the electrical potential difference across the membrane, Ai/<. 

Consider a phospholipid vesicle containing 10 mMNa ions. The vesicle is bathed in a solution that contains 52 mMNa ions, and the electrical potential difference across the vesicle membrane Ai/t = i/toutskie / inside = —30 mV. What is the electrochemical potential at 25°C for Na ions ... 

Inovay, J. and Banoezy, J. The Role of Electrical Potential Differences in the Etiology of Chronic Diseases of the Oral Mucosa , Journal of Dental Research, 40, 884-890 (1961)... 

The net electrochemical driving force is determined by two factors, the electrical potential difference across the cell membrane and the concentration gradient of the permeant ion across the membrane. Changing either one can change the net driving force. The membrane potential of a cell is defined as the inside potential minus the outside, i.e. the potential difference across the cell membrane. It results from the separation of charge across the cell membrane. 

If there were a simple partition equilibrium, without an electrical potential difference ... 

As a metal is brought in contact with an electrolyte, various phenomena occur that result in the onset of an electric potential difference (0M -0s), where M and S stand for metal and solution (the most usual electrolyte), respectively. The kind of phenomenon depends on the nature of the... 

Figure 42. Scheme comparing expected potential-independent charge-transfer rates from Marcus-Gerischer theory of interfacia) electron transfer (left) with possible mechanisms for explaining the experimental observation of potential-dependent electron-transfer rates (right) a potential-dependent concentration of surface states, or a charge-transfer rate that depends on the thermodynamic force (electric potential difference) in the interface. 

Does the concept of absolute electrode potential, defined in chapter 7, allow one to measure the absolute electrical potential difference, A(p, at a metal/electrolyte interface, one of the famous unresolved problems in electrochemistry ... 

Complexes III and IV have Fe-porphyrin prosthetic groups (hemes), complex IV also contains copper atoms which are involved in electron transport. Complexes I, III, and IV use the energy of electron transport to pump protons out of the matrix so as to maintain a pH gradient and an electrical potential difference across the inner membrane required for ATP synthesis (see below and Appendix 3). It is important to remember that all dehydrogenations of metabolic substrates remove two protons as well as two electrons and that a corresponding number of protons are consumed in the final reduction of dioxygen (Figures 5, 6). 

Rona, J.P., Cornel, D., Gignon, C. Heller, R. (1982). The electrical potential difference across the tonoplast of Acer pseudoplantus cells. Physiologic Vegetale, 20, 459-63. 

Whereas gravitational potentials are measured in heights, electrical potential differences are measured in volts. For electrons, a point at a more negative electrical potential is uphill from a point at a more positive electrical potential. The parallel between gravitational potential and electrical potential is summarized in Figure 19-10. 

To visualize how electrochemical cells generate electrical potential differences, consider a zinc electrode dipped into a solution of zinc sulfate. From the macroscopic perspective, nothing happens. At the molecular level, however, some of the zinc atoms of the electrode are oxidized to ions ... 

A battery must use cell reactions that generate and maintain a large electrical potential difference. This requires two half-reactions with substantially different standard reduction potentials. The ideal battery would be compact, inexpensive, rechargeable, and environmentally safe. This is a stringent set of requirements. No battery meets all of them, and only a few come close. 

Measurement of electrical potential differences requires a complete electrical circuit, i.e., the electrochemical cell. An electrochemical galvanic cell consisting of all conducting phases, and among them at least one interface separating two immiscible electrolyte solutions is called for short a liquid galvanic cell. In contrast, the system composed of con-... 

It is possible to describe the electrical potential difference between the aqueous and membrane bulk, 0b — 0b, as a function of the charge densities, and in the simplified case where 0q = 0q, as... 

Phospholipid monolayers at liquid-liquid interfaces influence the charge transfer processes in two ways. On the one hand, the phospholipids constitute a barrier that blocks the process by impeding the transferring species to reach the interface [1,15,48]. On the other hand, the phospholipids modify the electrical potential difference governing the process [60]. While the first influence invariably leads to a decreased rate, the second one might result in either a decreased or an increased rate of charge transfer. The net effect of the phospholipids on the charge transfer process depends on the state of the monolayer, and therefore studies with simultaneous electrochemical and surface pressure control are preferable [10,41,45]. 

The ends of a correctly constructed electrochemical circuit measuring electrical potential difference must always have metals or conductors with identical chemical composition. It is usually reached by simple connection of two metals by copper wires. The inclusion between two metal conductors of a third metal conductor according to Volta s law does not change the difference of potentials at the output of a circuit. The difference of potentials in an electrochemical circuit at equilibrium is caused by the change of Gibbs free energy during the appropriate electrochemical reaction ... 

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