Lead battery, redox reaction

The electrical current needed to start an automobile engine is provided by a lead storage battery. This battery contains aqueous sulfuric acid in contact with two electrodes. One electrode is metallic lead, and the other is solid Pb02. Each electrode becomes coated with solid PbSOq as the battery operates. Determine the balanced half-reactions, the overall redox reaction, and the anode and cathode in this galvanic cell. 

The reducing and oxidizing agents in a standard electrochemical cell are depleted with time. In a rechargeable battery (e.g., lead storage batteries in cars) the direction of the spontaneous redox reaction is reversed and reactants are regenerated when electrical energy is added into the system. A fuel cell has the same components as a standard electrochemical cell except that reactants are continuously supplied. 

Batteries contain several voltaic cells in series and are classified as primary (e.g., alkaline, mercury, and silver), secondary (e.g., lead-acid, nickel-metal hydride, and lithium-ion), or fuel cell. Supplying electricity to a rechargeable (secondary) battery reverses the redox reaction, forming more reactant for further use. Fuel cells generate a current through the controlled oxidation of a fuel such as H2. 

SECTION 20.7 A battery is a self-contained electrochemical power source that contains one or more voltaic cells. Batteries are based on a variety of different redox reactions. Several common batteries were discussed. The lead-acid battery, the nickel-cadmium battery, the nickel-metal-hydride battery, and the lithium-ion battery are examples of rechargeable batteries. The common alkaline dry cell is not rechargeable. Fuel cells are voltaic cells that utilize redox reactions in which reactants such as H2 have to be continuously supplied to the cell to generate voltage. 

The decrease in free energy of the system in a spontaneous redox reaction is equal to the electrical work done by the system on the surroundings, or AG = nFE. The equilibrium constant for a redox reaction can be found from the standard electromotive force of a cell. 10. The Nernst equation gives the relationship between the cell emf and the concentrations of the reactants and products under non-standard-state conditions. Batteries, which consist of one or more galvanic cells, are used widely as self-contained power sources. Some of the better-known batteries are the dry cell, such as the Leclanche cell, the mercury battery, and the lead storage battery used in automobiles. Fuel cells produce electrical energy from a continuous supply of reactants. 

After the automobile has been started, the alternator or generator takes over the job of producing electricity (for spark plugs, lights, and so on) and also recharges the battery. The alternator reverses both the flow of electrons into the battery and the original redox reactions, and regenerates the lead and lead dioxide ... 

Batteries are examples of how spontaneous redox reactions can be used productively. In this section we will examine the undesirable redox reactions that lead to the corrosion of metals. Corrosion reactions are spontaneous redox reactions in which a metal is attacked by some substance in its environment and converted to an unwanted compound. 

The redox reaction in lead-add batteries is the sum of the above half-cell reaction... 

The basis for charging lead-acid batteries is the redox reaction of lead ... 

Figure 9.3 The lead storage battery. The key to obtaining electrical energy from a redox chemical reaction is to physically separate the two half-cell reactions so that electrons are transferred from the anode through an external circuit to the cathode. In the process, electrical work is accomplished.

C19-0050. What are the half-reactions for these redox processes (a) Aqueous hydrogen peroxide acts on Co, and the products are hydroxide and Co , in basic solution, (b) Methane reacts with oxygen gas and produces water and carbon dioxide, (c) To recharge a lead storage battery, lead(II) sulfate is converted to lead metal and to lead(IV) oxide, (d) Zinc metal dissolves in aqueous hydrochloric acid to give ions and hydrogen gas. 

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