![]() ![]() And as a quick summary, this diagram shows the electrolytic cell for the electrolysis of Remember that a good way to remember this is to ![]() Since oxidation is occurring at the inert electrode on the left, this electrode must be the anode. So the electrons wouldįlow through this wire back toward the positive And as the liquid chlorideĪnions are oxidized, that's loss of electrons. So we would see bubbles of chlorine gas at this electrode. Oxidation is taking place because liquid chloride anions are turning into chlorine gas. Next, let's think about the other inert electrode on the left. Liquid sodium cools down, you would have some solid sodium metal because reduction is occurring at the electrode on the right, the electrode on the Therefore, at this high temperature sodium will remain a liquid. The melting point of sodium chloride is higher than the The liquid sodium ions into liquid sodium. At the surface of the electrode, the electrons reduce For example, the electrode could be a piece of platinum metal, which is very unreactive. Inert means the electrodes aren't going to participate Moving in this wire toward the inert electrode on the right. Of the power source is where the electrons come from. Molten sodium chloride, and let's start with the power source. Our electrolytic cell for the electrolysis of So in order for this reaction to occur, we need some sort of a power source to provide an electric current, to drive this thermodynamically However, delta G naught for this reaction is greater than zero, which means this reaction is thermodynamically unfavorable. So if we had some molten sodium chloride, we could form sodium and chlorine gas. Half reactions together, the two electrons cancel out and we get two liquid sodium cations plus two liquid chloride anions goes to two liquid So that'd be two liquid sodium ions, two electrons, and two liquid sodiums. The reduction half reaction, we need to multiply everything in our reduction half ![]() Since we have two electrons in the oxidation half reaction and only one electron in The number of electrons are equal in both half reactions. And before we do that, we have to make sure Half reactions together to get the overall redox reaction. So loss of electrons is oxidation and gain of electrons is reduction. As a quick reminder, one way to remember that loss of electrons is oxidation and gain of electrons is reduction is to think about LEO the lion goes GER. Two chloride anions, we're going to lose two electrons. Since we have two chlorines on the right, we need to put two as a coefficient in front of the chlorideĪnions on the left. So this is the oxidation half reaction, and we need to balance it. Therefore, the liquid chloride anions are oxidized to chlorine gas. So going from minus one to zero is an increase in the oxidation number. Oxidation number of minus one, and chlorine gas has an If we assign oxidation numbers, liquid chloride anions have a In our next unbalanced half reaction, liquid chloride anions Therefore, liquid sodium ions are reduced to form liquid sodium metal So going from plus one to zero is a decrease or a reduction Liquid sodium ions haveĪn oxidation number of plus one and liquid sodium metal has an oxidation number of zero. That this is a reduction half reaction is toĪssign oxidation numbers. Ion is gaining an electron, this represents the In one half reaction, liquid sodium ions react with an electron toįorm liquid sodium metal. Of electrolytic cell, let's look at the half reactions that will occur in the cell. Electrolytic cells use an electric current to drive a thermodynamically unfavorable reaction. ![]()
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