Technological University of The Philippines
Ermita Manila, 1000, Philippines
College of Science
Department of Chemistry
LEE, STEVEN V.
BET-MT 1E
Experiment No. 6
Voltaic Cell
I. Introduction
An electrochemical cell is a device that produces an
electric current from energy released by a spontaneous
redox reaction. Redox reactions is a type of chemical
reaction that involves a transfer of electrons between
two species. An oxidation-reduction reaction is any
chemical reaction in which the oxidation number of a
molecule, atom, or ion changes by gaining or losing an
electron. Redox reactions are common and vital to
some of the basic functions of life, including
photosynthesis, respiration, combustion, and corrosion
or rusting.
If the reaction is spontaneous, energy is released, which
can then be used to do useful work. To harness this
energy, the reaction must be split into two separate half
reactions: the oxidation and reduction reactions.
Oxidation describes the loss of electrons by a molecule,
atom, or ion, while Reduction describes the gain of
electrons by a molecule, atom, or ion. These reactions
are put into two different containers and a wire is used
to drive the electrons from one side to the other. In
doing so, a Voltaic/ Galvanic Cell is created. This kind of
cell the galvanic, or voltaic, cell, named after Luigi
Galvani and Alessandro Volta. These scientists
conducted several experiments on chemical reactions
and electric current during the late 18th century.
Electrochemical cells have two conductive electrodes,
called the anode and the cathode. The anode is defined
as the electrode where oxidation occurs. The cathode is
the electrode where reduction takes place. Electrodes
can be made from any sufficiently conductive materials,
such as metals, semiconductors, graphite, and even
conductive polymers. In between these electrodes is the
electrolyte, which contains ions that can freely move.
January 21, 2021
The voltaic cell, a cell such as in a battery, in which an
irreversible chemical reaction generates electricity; a
cell that cannot be recharged. It uses two different
metal electrodes, each in an electrolyte solution. The
anode will undergo oxidation and the cathode will
undergo reduction. The metal of the anode will oxidize,
going from an oxidation state of 0 (in the solid form) to
a positive oxidation state, and it will become an ion. At
the cathode, the metal ion in the solution will accept
one or more electrons from the cathode, and the ion’s
oxidation state will reduce to 0. This forms a solid metal
that deposits on the cathode. The two electrodes must
be electrically connected to each other, allowing for a
flow of electrons that leave the metal of the anode and
flow through this connection to the ions at the surface
of the cathode. This flow of electrons is an electrical
current that can be used to do work, such as turn a
motor or power a light.
The operating principle of the voltaic cell is a
simultaneous oxidation and reduction reaction, called a
redox reaction. This redox reaction consists of two half-
reactions. In a typical voltaic cell, the redox pair is
copper and zinc, represented in the following half-cell
reactions:
Zinc electrode (anode): Zn(s) → Zn2+(aq) + 2 e–
Copper electrode (cathode): Cu 2+(aq) + 2 e– →
Cu(s)
The cells are constructed in separate beakers. The metal
electrodes are immersed in electrolyte solutions. Each
half-cell is connected by a salt bridge, which allows for
the free transport of ionic species between the two
cells. When the circuit is complete, the current flows
and the cell “produces” electrical energy.

Figure 1: Voltaic cell between the zinc and copper
A galvanic, or voltaic, cell, the cell consists of two half-
cells connected through a salt bridge or permeable
membrane. The electrodes are immersed in electrolyte
solutions and connected through an electrical load.
Copper readily oxidizes zinc; the anode is zinc and the
cathode is copper. The anions in the solutions are
sulfates of the respective metals. When an electrically
conducting device connects the electrodes, the
electrochemical reaction is:
Zn + Cu2+ → Zn2+ + Cu
The zinc electrode produces two electrons as it is
oxidized Zn → Zn2 + 2 e–, which travel through the wire
to the copper cathode. The electrons then find the Cu2+
in solution and the copper is reduced to copper metal,
Cu2 + 2 e– → Cu. During the reaction, the zinc electrode
will be used and the metal will shrink in size, while the
copper electrode will become larger due to the
deposited Cu that is being produced. A salt bridge is
necessary to keep the charge flowing through the cell.
Without a salt bridge, the electrons produced at the
anode would build up at the cathode and the reaction
would stop running.
Voltaic cells are typically used as a source of electrical
power. By their nature, they produce direct current. A
battery is a set of voltaic cells that are connected in
parallel. For instance, a lead–acid battery has cells with
the anodes composed of lead and cathodes composed
of lead dioxide.
Half Cells
Half of the redox reaction occurs at each half cell.
Therefore, we can say that in each half-cell a half-
reaction is taking place. When the two halves are linked
together with a wire and a salt bridge, an
electrochemical cell is created.
Electrodes
An electrode is strip of metal on which the reaction
takes place. In a voltaic cell, the oxidation and reduction
of metals occurs at the electrodes. There are two
electrodes in a voltaic cell, one in each half-cell. The
cathode is where reduction takes place and oxidation
takes place at the anode.
Through electrochemistry, these reactions are reacting
upon metal surfaces, or electrodes. An oxidation-
reduction equilibrium is established between the metal
and the substances in solution. When electrodes are
immersed in a solution containing ions of the same
metal, it is called a half-cell. Electrolytes are ions in
solution, usually fluid, that conducts electricity through
ionic conduction. Two possible interactions can occur
between the metal atoms on the electrode and the ion
solutions.
 Metal ion Mn+ from the solution may collide with
the electrode, gaining "n" electrons from it, and
convert to metal atoms. This means that the ions
are reduced.
 Metal atom on the surface may lose "n" electrons
to the electrode and enter the solution as the ion
Mn+ meaning that the metal atoms are oxidized.
When an electrode is oxidized in a solution, it is called
an anode and when an electrode is reduced in solution.
it is called a cathode.
Anode: The anode is where the oxidation
reaction takes place. In other words, this is
where the metal loses electrons. In the reaction
above, the anode is the Cu(s) since it increases in
oxidation state from 0 to +2.
Cathode: The cathode is where the reduction
reaction takes place. This is where the metal
electrode gains electrons. Referring back to the
 equation above, the cathode is the Ag(s) as it
decreases in oxidation state from +1 to 0.
Salt Bridge
The salt bridge is a vital component of any voltaic cell. It
is a tube filled with an electrolyte solution such as
KNO3(s) or KCl(s). The purpose of the salt bridge is to
keep the solutions electrically neutral and allow the free
flow of ions from one cell to another. Without the salt
bridge, positive and negative charges will build up
around the electrodes causing the reaction to stop.
The purpose of the salt bridge is to keep the solutions
electrically neutral and allow the free flow of ions from
one cell to another.
Flow of Electrons
Electrons always flow from the anode to the cathode or
from the oxidation half-cell to the reduction half-cell. In
terms of Eo cell of the half reactions, the electrons will
flow from the more negative half reaction to the more
positive half reaction. A cell diagram is a representation
of an electrochemical cell. The figure below illustrates a
cell diagram for the voltaic shown in Figure 1 above.
Zn Zn2+(aq) Cu2+(aq) Cu
Figure 2: Cell Diagram. The figure below illustrates a cell
diagram for the voltaic shown in Figure 1.
Cell Voltage/Cell Potential
The readings from the voltmeter give the reaction's cell
voltage or potential difference between its two half-
cells. Cell voltage is also known as cell potential or
electromotive force (emf) and it is shown as the symbol
Ecell.
Standard Cell Potential Equation:
Eocell=Eocathode−Eoanode(8)
The Eo values are tabulated with all solutes at 1 M and
all gases at 1 atm. These values are called standard
reduction potentials. Each half-reaction has a different
reduction potential, the difference of two reduction
potentials gives the voltage of the electrochemical cell.
If Eocell is positive the reaction is spontaneous and it is a
voltaic cell. If the Eocell is negative, the reaction is non-
spontaneous and it is referred to as an electrolytic cell.
Objectives
A. The purpose of this experiment is to understand
the concept of the voltaic cell
B. To determine the changes of the pointer of the
ammeter when the copper strip and the zinc
strip submerge in the Nitric acid and Sulfuric
acid mixtures.
C. The hypothesis for this experiment is:
Ho= there will be changes to the pointer of the
ammeter of the copper strip and the zinc strip
after being half-submerge in the Nitric acid and
Sulfuric acid mixtures.
H1= there will be no changes to the pointer of
the ammeter of the copper strip and the zinc
strip after being half-submerge in the Nitric acid
and Sulfuric acid mixtures.
D. To understand the Ionization Potential of
Metals.
E. To determine the direction of the flow of
current by the deflection of the pointer of the
ammeter.
F. The hypothesis for this experiment is:
Ho= the electron current flow will be negative
terminal to positive terminal.
H1= the electron current flow will be positive
terminal to negative terminal.
II. Materials
The materials that will be going to use for this
experiment are copper strip, zinc strip, sand paper,
Nitric acid (HNO3), Sulfuric acid (H2SO4), 100 mL
graduated cylinder, 2 beakers, stirring rod, 4 four
unknown metal chips, Sodium Chloride (NaCl), Petri
Dish, Tissue, Pipette, and Ammeter with the positive
and negative terminal
In this experiment, wearing a laboratory gown, gloves,
face mask, and goggles are necessary inside the
laboratory.
positive terminal, place it to metal D. Then record the
ammeter current reading.
After these experiments, keep and dispose of the
material that are used respectively. And after that, clean
the working area.

III. Procedure
The experiment started in wearing the Personal IV. Data
Protective Equipment in entering the laboratory. Next is Table No. 1: Voltaic Cell
the preparation of the materials that will be going to Initial Record Final Record
Negative Positive
use for each set up of the experiment. (Before HNO3 (After HNO3
Terminal Terminal
and H2SO4) and H2SO4)
First, clean the copper strip and the zinc strip using the Copper
Zinc Strip 0 mA 500 mA
sand paper. After cleaning the strips, connect the Strip
copper strip to the positive terminal of the ammeter, For table No. 1, it shows the voltaic cell between the
and for the zinc strip, connects the negative terminal of Zinc and copper strip. The voltaic cell’s negative
the ammeter. After connecting the designated terminals terminal is the zinc strip, and the positive terminal is the
to the copper and zinc strips, placed it in the beaker. copper strip. The ammeter’s reading before pouring the
Then, prepare an 80 mL of Nitric acid (HNO3) and 80 mL of Nitric acid (HNO3) and Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to
Sulfuric acid (H2SO4), then pour it to the beaker the beaker contain the zinc and copper strip is 0 mA. As
containing the copper and zinc strips. After that, the HNO3 and H2SO4 pouring in the solution, the pointers
observe the deflection of the pointer of the ammeter of the ammeter shows drastic change in mA. After
and the changes taking place. Then record the changes pouring the 80 mL of HNO 3 and H2SO4, the ammeter
and the data gathered for this experiment set up. shows the reading of 500 mA. After that, in the beaker
there are bubbles created by the strips in the HNO 3 and
For the second set of experiment, prepare the four H2SO4.
unknown metal chips prepared by the instructor. After
that, label the four unknown metal chips as metal A, Table No. 2: Current Flow of the 4 Unknown Metal
metal B, metal C, and metal D. Then place the four Chips
unknown metal chips on the petri dish and the tissue. Negative Positive Ammeter
Current Flow
Then pour a Sodium Chloride (NaCl) solution to the Terminal Terminal Reading
beaker. After that, using a pipette, transfer droplets of From Metal A to
Metal A Metal B 0.18
Metal B
sodium chloride to moistened the four unknown metal
From Metal A to
chips. After that, place the negative terminal to metal A, Metal A Metal C 0.48
Metal C
and for the positive terminal, place it to metal B. Then
From Metal A to
record the ammeter current reading. Next place the Metal A Metal D 0.84
Metal D
negative terminal to metal A, and for the positive From Metal B to
terminal, place it to metal C. Then record the ammeter Metal B Metal C 0.30
Metal C
current reading. Next place the negative terminal to From Metal B to
metal A, and for the positive terminal, place it to metal Metal B Metal D 0.63
Metal D
D. Then record the ammeter current reading. Next place From Metal C to
Metal C Metal D 0.33
the negative terminal to metal B, and for the positive Metal D
terminal, place it to metal C. Then record the ammeter Table 2 presents the data about the current flow
current reading. Next place the negative terminal to between the 4 unknown metal chips. The chips are
metal B, and for the positive terminal, place it to metal labelled as metal A, metal B, metal C, and metal D. After
D. Then record the ammeter current reading. Lastly that, moistened the 4 unknown metal chips using the
place the negative terminal to metal C, and for the sodium chloride solution. Then using the ammeter, the
positive and negative terminal use to identify the
current flowing between the metals. For the first
experiment, metal A served as the negative terminal
and the positive terminal is metal B, the ammeter
reading is 0.18, and the current flow is from metal A to
metal B. For the second experiment, metal A served as
the negative terminal and the positive terminal is metal
C, the ammeter reading is 0.48, and the current flow is
from metal A to metal C. For the third experiment,
metal A served as the negative terminal and the positive
terminal is metal D, the ammeter reading is 0.84, and
the current flow is from metal A to metal D. For the
fourth experiment, metal B served as the negative
terminal and the positive terminal is metal C, the
ammeter reading is 0.30, and the current flow is from
metal B to metal C. For the fifth experiment, metal B
served as the negative terminal and the positive
terminal is metal D, the ammeter reading is 0.63, and
the current flow is from metal B to metal D. For the
sixth experiment, metal C served as the negative
terminal and the positive terminal is metal D, the
ammeter reading is 0.33, and the current flow is from
metal C to metal D.
V. Discussion of Result
For this experiment, there are two sets of experiment.
The first experiment is the voltaic cell between the zinc
strip and copper strip. In this experiment it aims to
determine the changes between the current flowing in
the voltaic cell. And for the second set of experiment is
the flow of the current between the four unknown
metal chips. In this experiment it focusses to determine
the metals flowing in these metals by placing the
positive and negative terminal in these metals.
For the first set of experiment, the zinc strip and the
copper strip was half submerge to the 80 mL of Nitric
acid (HNO3) and Sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Before
submerging these metal strip, the reading of the
ammeter is 0 mA. And after pouring Nitric acid (HNO3)
and Sulfuric acid (H2SO4), the ammeter reading reaches
500 mA. Because in this experiment, the zinc strip
consider as the anode, while the copper strip consider
as the cathode. In which the zinc strip gets oxidize and
loses electrons forming zinc ions. And the copper strip
act as the electron acceptor for this experiment. With
this, the flow of the electrons from the zinc strip to
copper strip produce electric current, in which more
than 500 mA is the current produce by the zinc and
copper strip.
For the second set of the experiment there will be four
unknown metal chips moistened by the sodium chloride
(NaCl). After that, the positive and negative terminals of
the ammeter placed on the unknown metal chips. Then
there are 6 experiments perform in this experiment, in
which the negative terminal or the black lead in the
ammeter is attached to the unknown metal, which will
serve as the negative electrode, and the red lead or the
positive terminal in the ammeter was attached to
another unknown metal which will serve as the positive
electrode. In this experiment, the first set is Metal A in
black lead, and Metal B in red lead. The second set is
Metal A in black lead, and Metal C in red lead. The third
set is Metal A in black lead, and Metal D in red lead. The
fourth set is Metal B in black lead, and Metal C in red
lead. The fifth set is Metal B in black lead, and Metal D
in red lead. The sixth set is Metal C in black lead, and
Metal D in red lead. Since the flow of the electron
current is from negative terminal to positive terminal,
because of the flow of the electrons, it produces the
current. And this current is recorded by the ammeter.
Because of the flow of electron current, it can be
identified that there 6 electron current flows presented
in the experiment and these are, first from Metal A to
Metal B, second from Metal A to Metal C, third from
Metal A to Metal D, fourth from Metal A to Metal D,
fifth from Metal B to Metal C, fifth from Metal B to
Metal D, lastly the sixth identified electron current flow
is from Metal C to Metal D.
VI. Conclusion
For this experiment entitled Voltaic Cell, this is a device
in which the transfer of electrons takes place through
an external pathway. The flow of electrons in a voltaic
cell enable energy in form of electricity to be produced
in redox reaction. The set-up of a voltaic cell includes an
anode, a cathode and a salt bridge that is used to
neutralize the system. In this laboratory experiment,
there are 2 experiment set, first is the voltaic cell
between the zinc strip and the copper strip. And the
second experiment is the ionization of energy between
the four unknown metal chips.
For the first experiment, the zinc strip and the copper
strip was connected to the negative and positive
terminal of the ammeter, respectively. Then it was half
submerge to Nitric acid (HNO3) and Sulfuric acid (H2SO4),
and these causes the pointer of the ammeter to change
from 0 mA to more than 500 mA. Because the zinc strip tical_Chemistry)/Electrochemistry/Redox_Chem
loses electron and the copper strip accepts the istry/Oxidation-Reduction_Reactions
electrons. In this experiment, the zinc strip consider as Singh, S. & Gho, D. (2020, August 16). Voltaic Cells.
the anode, while the copper strip consider as the Chemistry LibreText. Retrieved from
cathode. With this, the flow of the electron ions causes https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analy
to produce the electron current, and the changes in tical_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_(Analy
electron current flow is recorded by the ammeter which tical_Chemistry)/Electrochemistry/Voltaic_Cells
is more than 500 mA. With this, the alternative
hypothesis is rejected and the null hypothesis is
accepted stating that there will be changes to the
pointer of the ammeter of the copper strip and the zinc
strip after of being half-submerge in the Nitric acid and
Sulfuric acid mixtures.

For the second experiment is the ionization energy, in

which it is the amount of energy required to remove an
electron from an isolated atom or molecule. For this
experiment there are four unknown metal chips
moistened by the sodium chloride (NaCl). After that, the
first negative terminal is metal A and the positive
terminal is metal B. Which means the electron current
flow is from metal A to metal B. Next, the second
negative terminal is metal A and the positive terminal is
metal C. Which means the electron current flow is from
metal A to metal C. Next, the Third negative terminal is
metal A and the positive terminal is metal D. Which
means the electron current flow is from metal A to
metal D. Next, the fourth negative terminal is metal B
and the positive terminal is metal C. Which means the
electron current flow is from metal B to metal C. Next,
the fifth negative terminal is metal B and the positive
terminal is metal D. Which means the electron current
flow is from metal B to metal D. Lastly, the sixth
negative terminal is metal C and the positive terminal is
metal D. Which means the electron current flow is from
metal C to metal D. With this the alternative hypothesis
is rejected and the null hypothesis is accepted stating
that the electron current flow will be negative terminal
to positive terminal.

Reference

Lumen Organization. (n.d.). Voltaic Cell. Retrieved from

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introchem/
chapter/voltaic-cells/
Spohrer, C. & Breitenbuecher, C. (2020, August 16).
Oxidation-Reduction Reactions. Chemistry
LibreText. Retrieved from
https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analy
tical_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_(Analy