I have the following questions about electrolysis. Here are what my questions ask:
How many moles of copper are in 0.015 gram? How many moles of electrons are involved in the reduction of this much copper? What is the total charge transfer that corresponds to this reaction?
The reaction they are referring to is Cu(2+) + 2e- = Cu.
For the first question, the it would simply be 0.015g/63.546g/mol = 2.36x10^-4 moles of Cu.
In terms of electrons, since the copper is Cu(2+), it would be 2.36x10^-4 * 2 = 4.7x10^-4 moles of electrons.
The third one is difficult for me.
I know that the total charge transferred divided by the electron charge is equal to the number of electrons:
Q / e = Ne.
Since we know the moles of electrons, we can calculate the number of electrons: 4.7x10^-4 * 6.022x10^23=2.843x10^20 electrons.
We need Q, and we have Ne. But what would be 'e' in this equation? Or am I climbing up the wrong tree here? Any help is appreciated.