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Topic: concentration of an electrolyte in an eletrolytic cell  (Read 2868 times)

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Offline Thuvaraja1

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concentration of an electrolyte in an eletrolytic cell
« on: December 31, 2007, 10:06:23 AM »
one-half cell of an electrolytic cell has a lanthanum electrode in a 1 mole/L lanthanum  hyposulfite solution. The other half-cell has a magnesium electrode in a 1 mole/L magnesium hyposulfite solution. How would adding more lanthanum ions to the cathode half-cell affect the cell voltage?

La+3 + 3e- → La       E(cathode) = -2.379V

Mg → Mg+2 +2e-      E(anode) = -2.372V

E(cell) = E(cathode) - E(anode)
         = -2.379V - (-2.372V)
         = -0.007V

I thought about it and I think that by adding more lanthanum ions, your increasing it's concentration, so its reduction potential would increase. That means that the cell voltage should increase, but I'm not really sure.

Offline IITian

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Re: concentration of an electrolyte in an eletrolytic cell
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2007, 11:42:47 AM »
The Eo(Cathode) is constant, but E (Cathode) depends on the concentration. Thus, the net effect can be obtained by Nernst Equation.

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