Shaun Donnelly @UkScienceguy - Apr 18 v 26. Last point, there is a required practical (AQA) on the electrolysis of aqueous compounds. Learn the method. In this practical, you need to describe the test for chlorine gas. Chlorine gas bleaches damp litmus paper. And here's the video for you. freesciencelessons.co.uk/gese-chemistry... Qo us b Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy - Apr 18 v 25. This is because the hydroxide ions (from the water) are oxidised at the anode. Here are the equations (higher tier). 40H- —-> O02 + H20 + ae- also. 40H - da. > O02 + H20 (remember that these show the same thing) 9 m2 O55 a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy « Apr 18 24. But what if our solution does not contain a halide? In this case, we always get oxygen gas produced at the anode. So for example, sadium sulphate would produce oxygen at the anode. So would copper nitrate, lithium carbonate etc. 2 2 OW a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy « Apr 18 v 23. What about the anode? The rule here is easy. If our solution contains a halide (ie group 7 such as chloride, bromide etc), then the halogen is produced at the anode (eg chlorine). In the case of NaCl(aq). we willl get chlorine produced at the anode 2 U3 9 49 a“ Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceauy - Apr 18 v 22. If the metal is LESS reactive than hydrogen, then we get the metal produced at the cathode. A good example is copper. This is less reactive than hydrogen. If we electrolysed copper chloride, then we'd get copper metal at the cathode. Qo 2 9 40 a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy - Apr 18 ¥ 21. In the exam, you should be told if the metal involved is more reactive than hydrogen (or some information to figure it out). You could be shown the results of electrolysis and asked to figure out if the metal is more reactive than hydrogen. ° u2 © 36 aShaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy - Apr 18 v 20. There are two key rules that you must learn. Rule 1: At the cathode, we get hydrogen gas produced if the metal is more reactive than hydrogen. In the case of NaCl(aq), sodium is more reactive than hydrogen, so we get hydrogen at the cathode. ° m2 9 40 a Shaun Donnelly @UKSciencequy - Apr 18 v 19. Water molecules naturally break down to form the ions H+ and the hydroxide ion OH-. o 2 O32 a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy » Apr 18 v 18. We'll look at sodium chloride solution NaCl (aq). The first key idea to remember is that aqueous solutions contain water so we need to consider the water as well as the Na+ and Cl-. 9 u2 Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy « Apr 18 - 17. OK so that's electrolysis of a molten compound covered (but feel free to ask questions at the end). So let's look at electrolysis of an aqueous solution. This isa little bit harder but not much. 9 m3 0% a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy - Apr 18 ¥ 16. Now one critical point is that the electrodes are made of graphite (a form of carbon). This means that the anode (where oxygen is produced) has to be replaced regularly. That's because the graphite reacts with the oxygen to form carbon dioxide gas. 2 a2 Oa a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy « Apr 18 v 15. At the anode, the oxide ions are oxidised (ie lose electrons) to form oxygen gas. 202- 4e- ----> 02 Can you see that we've doubled this due to oxygen gas (02) containing two atoms of oxygen? 2 a2 oa a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy « Apr 18 v 14, At the cathode, aluminium ions are reduced to aluminium atoms (which is what we want). AI3+ + Je > Al O1 D2 9% aShaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy » Apr 18 v 13. So the first key point is that aluminium oxide has a very high melting paint (it has very strong electrostatic forces of attraction). We add the chemical cryolite which reduces the melting point, saving energy and money. o ui oO” a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy Apr 18 - 12. Now there is a very specific example of electrolysis of a molten compound that you need to learn and that is aluminium oxide (Al203). This is electrolysed to make aluminium. There are some very typical exam questions that you need to learn the answers to. 9 m2 0 45 a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy « Apr 18 ¥ 11 Secondly, there are two ways to write the half-equation for the anode but they both mean the same thing. We caneither write 2c - 2e. > C2 orwecanwrite 2cl > Cl2 + 2e-. Both show electrons being removed from the negative ion. ° 2 0 45 “4 Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy « Apr 18 v 10. Firstly, as we saw, non-metal ions lose electrons to form non-metal atorns. However, these are very often gases and these often have two atoms bonded together (eg C2, O2 etc). So we have to double our equation for the anode (eg 2Cl- = 2e > Cl2) 2 D2 0 48 a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy - Apr 18 v 9, Remember OIL RIG (oxidation is loss of electrons, reduction is gain of electrons). OK, so that's the basic idea of electrolysis of a molten compound but there are two important points to get your head around (students generally don't like these). 9 a3 0 56 a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy « Apr 18 - 8. Remember that GAINING electrons is called REDUCTION. The negative non- metal ion moves to the positive anode where it loses electrons, For example: ce - e => Cl LOSING electrons is called OXIDATION. 9 n3 Oo 47 “a Shaun Donnelly @UKScienceguy « Apr 18 v