Voltaic cells examples

You have probably worked with tables of standard reduction potentials before. These tables provide the reduction potentials of various substances. It describes an oxidized species s ability to gain electrons in a reduction half-reaction (like copper in the voltaic cell example). According to this definition, we can use a value from the table to represent the E°red in the expression above, but how do you find the E°ox ... 

Calculating the emf from standard potentials Given standard electrode potentials, calculate the standard emf of a voltaic cell. (EXAMPLE 20.8)... 

Draw a diagram for a voltaic cell, labeling electrodes and direction of current flow. (Example 18.1 Problems 3-8) Questions and Problems assignable in OWL 2,6... 

Using the plan from your Pre-Lab, construct voltaic cells using the four metals and 1 mL of each of the solutions. Remember to minimize the use of solutions. Put the metals in the wells that contain the appropriate solution (for example, put the zinc metal in the solution with zinc nitrate). Use a different salt bridge for each voltaic cell. If you get a negative value for potential difference, switch the leads of the probe on the metals. 

Electrons created in the oxidation reaction at the anode of a voltaic cell flow along an external circuit to the cathode, where they fuel the reduction reaction taking place there. We use the spontaneous reaction between zinc and copper as an example of a voltaic cell here, but you should realize that many powerful redox reactions power many types of batteries, so they re not limited to reactions between copper and zinc. 

Note that not all the reactions in Table 19-1 show the reduction of solid metals, as in our examples so far. We ve thrown in liquids and gases as well. Not every voltaic cell is fueled by a reaction taking place between the metals of the electrodes. Although the cathode itself must be made of a metal to allow for the flow of electrons, those electrons can be passed into a gas or a liquid to complete the reduction half-reaction. Examine Figure 19-2 for an example of such a cell, which includes a gaseous electrode. 

Secondary cells are voltaic cells that can be recharged repeatedly. The lead storage battery and nickel-cadmium cell are examples of secondary cells. The lead storage battery consists of six voltaic cells. Its electrodes are lead alloy plates, which take the form of a grill, filled with spongy lead metal. The cathode consists of another group of plates filled with lead (IV) oxide, P6O2. Dilute sulfuric acid is the electrolyte of the cell. When the battery delivers a current, the lead is oxidized to lead ions, which combine with sulfate fS0 7 ions of the electrolyte to cover the lead electrode. 

So we see that with the proper setup it is possible to harness electrical energy from an oxidation-reduction reaction. The apparatus shown in Figure 11.8 is one example. Such devices are called voltaic cells. Instead of two containers, a voltaic cell can be an all-in-one, self-contained unit, in which case it is called a battery. Batteries are either disposable or rechargeable, and here we explore some examples of each. Although the two types differ in design and composition, they function by the same principle two materials that oxidize and reduce each other are connected by a medium through which ions travel to balance an external flow of electrons. 

The correct answer is (A). The anode in a galvanic (voltaic) cell is where oxidation occurs. Choice (A) is the only example of an oxidation that could occur in a half-cell (Zinc is losing electrons). 

Example of a voltaic cell including reactions at electrodes and half-cell... 

The two reduction half-reactions in this example represent the halfcells of a voltaic cell. 

Recall that the voltaic cells convert chemical energy to electrical energy as a result of a spontaneous redox reaction. Electrolytic cells do just the opposite they use electrical energy to drive a nonspontaneous reaction. A common example is the electrolysis of water. In this case, an electric current decomposes water into hydrogen and oxygen. 

The corrosion, or rusting, of iron is an example of a naturally occurring voltaic cell. To prevent corrosion, sacrificial anodes are sometimes attached to rust-susceptible iron. Sacrificial anodes must... 

Fig. 3-1. An example of a voltaic cell spontaneously generating current in a wire. The impetus for electron movement in the wire comes from the difference in oxidation potential between Zn,s) and Cu. The reducing agent, Zn(s), gives up electrons at the anode to become Zn ". The oxidising agent, Cu acquires electrons at the cathode and plates-out on the copper electrode as Cu(s). The semi-permeable membrane allows ions to move between the two solutions preventing charge imbalances and completing the electrical circuit (from Hamilton, 1998).

Figure 3-1 shows an example of a voltaic cell. A zinc electrode is immersed in a solution of NaCl and a copper electrode in a solution of CuCl2,with a semi-permeable membrane separating the two solutions. If a wire connects the two electrodes, electrons flow spontaneously from the zinc electrode to the copper electrode because is a stronger oxidising agent than Zn(s). At the copper cathode, Cu in the solution is reduced to CU(s) by electrons that are the product of the simultaneous oxidation of Zn(s) to Zn at the zinc anode. The difference in oxidation potential of the two metals results in a differential of approximately 1.10 volts between the two electrodes (assuming equal concentrations of Cu and Zn ). Across the membrane, Cf ions must move toward or... 

In general, the work that can be obtained in an isothermal change is a maximum when the process is performed in a reversible manner. This is true, for example, in the production of electrical work by means of a voltaic cell. Cells of this type can be made to operate isothermally and reversibly by withdrawing current extremely slowly ( 331) the e.m.f. of a given cell then has virtually its maximum value. On the other hand, if large currents are taken from the cell, so that it functions in an irreversible manner, the E.M.F. is less. Since the electrical work done by the cell is equal to the product of the e.m.f. and the quantity of electricity passing, it is clear that the same extent of chemical reaction in the cell will yield more work in the reversible than in the irreversible operation. 

Voltage, a measure of the strength of an electric current, represents the force that moves electrons from the anode to the cathode in a voltaic cell. When a greater force (voltage) is applied in the opposite direction, electrons can he pushed from what would normally be the cathode toward the voltaic cell s anode. This process is called electrolysis. In a broader sense, electrolysis is the process by which a redox reaction is made to occur in the nonspontaneous direction. For example, sodium metal reacts readily with chlorine gas to form sodium chloride, but we do not expect sodium chloride, as it sits in our saltshakers, to decompose into sodium metal and chlorine gas. We say the forward reaction below is spontaneous, and the reverse reaction is nonspontaneous. 

Current now flows through the external circuit (Figure 9.10). The device shown in Figure 9.10 is an example of a voltaic cell. A voltaic ceU is an electrochemical cell that converts stored chemical energy into electrical energy. 

There are two kinds of electrochemical cells, voltaic (galvanic) and electrolytic. In voltaic cells, a chemical reaction spontaneously occurs to produce electrical energy. The lead storage battery and the ordinary flashlight battery are common examples of voltaic cells. In electrolytic cells, on the other hand, electrical energy is used to force a nonspontaneous chemical reaction to occur, that is, to go in the reverse direction it would in a voltaic cell. An example is the electrolysis of water. In both types of these cells, the electrode at which oxidation occurs is the anode, and that at which reduction occurs is the cathode. Voltaic cells wOl be of importance in our discussions in the next two chapters, dealing with potentiometry. Electrolytic cells are important in electrochemical methods such as voltammetry, in which electroactive substances like metal ions are reduced at an electrode to produce a measurable current by applying an appropriate potential to get the nonspontaneous reaction to occur (Cha]pter 15). The current that results from the forced electrolysis is proportional to the concentration of the electroactive substance. 

A single vertical line represents a phase boundary. For example, Zn(s) Zn iaq) indicates that the solid Zn is a different phase from the aqueous Zn " ". A comma separates the half-cell components that are in the same phase. For example, the notation for the voltaic cell housing the reaction between I and Mn04 shown in Figure 21.6 is... 

By combining many pairs of half-cells into voltaic cells, we can create a list of reduction half-reactions and arrange them in decreasing order of standard electrode potential (from most positive to most negative). Such a list, called an emf series or a table of standard electrode potentials, appears in Appendix D, with a few examples in Table 21.2 on the next page. 

The Example Problems showed you how to use the data from Table 20.1 to calculate the standard potential (voltage) of voltaic cells. Another important use of standard reduction potentials is to determine if a proposed reaction under standard conditions will be spontaneous. How can standard reduction potentials indicate spontaneity Electrons in a voltaic cell always flow from the half-cell with the lower standard reduction potential to the half-cell with the higher reduction potential, giving a positive cell voltage. To predict whether any proposed redox reaction will occur spontaneously, simply write the process in the form of half-reactions and look up the reduction potential of each. Use the values to calculate the potential of a voltaic cell operating with these two half-cell reactions. If the calculated potential is positive, the reaction is spontaneous. If the value is negative, the reaction is not spontaneous. However, the reverse of a nonspontaneous reaction will occur because it will have a positive cell voltage, which means that the reverse reaction is spontaneous. 

Each compartment of a voltaic cell is called a half-cell. One half-cell is the site of the oxidation half-reaction, and the other is the site of the reduction half-reaction. In our present example, Zn is oxidized and Cu is reduced ... 

Voltaic cells are based on spontaneous redox reactions. It is also possible for nonspontaneous redox reactions to occur, however, by using electrical energy to drive them. For example, electricity can be used to decompose molten sodium chloride into its component elements Na and CI2. Such processes driven by an outside source of electrical energy are called electrolysis reactions and take place in electrolytic cells. 

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. 

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