IONIC THEORY AND ELECTROLYSIS PROBLEMS

A: Faraday’s First Law

1. A current of 0.5A was made to flow through silver voltmeter for 30 minutes. Calculate
the mass of silver deposited and the equivalent weight of silver.
2. How long a current of 5A should be passed through a solution of silver chloride in order
to deposit 3.24g of silver metal of the cathode? Given that the
electrochemical equivalent of silver is 1.118 ×10−3 g /s
3. Figures below represents an experiment in which Faraday’s second law was illustrated by
connecting in series three cells containing water to which a very little amount of diluted
sulphuric acid, copper sulphate solutions and silver nitrate solution had been added. A
current of 1A was passed through the solution for 2 seconds.

+ - + -

H2O AgNO3
CuSO4

V
The volumes and weights of hydrogen and oxygen liberated were calculated. The weight
of copper and silver formed by the electrolytes of copper and silver nitrate solutions was
also measured.
The results of the experiment are tabulated below;-

Element Current (I) Time (s) Mass of element Quantity of Electrochemical

deposited (g) electricity equivalent
1 Hydrogen 1.0 2 2.0892 ×10−5
2 Oxygen 1.0 2 1.658 ×10−4
3 Copper 1.0 2 6.587 ×10−4
4 Silver 1.0 2 2.236 ×10−3
(a) Complete the table above by calculating the
 i. Quantity of electricity passed in experiment 1, 2, 3 and 4
4. An experiment X has a relative atomic mass of 88. When a current of 0.5A was passed
through the fused chloride of X for 32 minutes 10 seconds, 0.44g of X was deposited of
the cathode. (1Faraday = 96,500 Coulombs)
(a) Calculate the number of faradays needed to liberate 1mole of X
(b) Write the formula for the hydroxide of X
5. What mass of zinc will be liberated in electrolysis using current supplies for one and half
hours?
6. What quantity of electricity will be required to liberate one kilogram of aluminium from a
solution by electrolysis?
7. How many Faradays of electricity are required to liberate one mole of zinc by
electrolysis?
8. After passing a constant current for 300 minutes the Iron knife gained 2.16g of silver.
Calculate the number of coulombs and the current flowing during this time.
9. A sample of impure copper of mass 3.45g was used as an anode in the electrolysis
refining process. The cathode was made up of pure gold of mass 6.45g. after electrolysis
the cathode was found of weight 9.66g. Calculate the percentage purity of the impure
sample of copper.
10. How many moles of electrons will be transferred if 26.98g of Aluminium are liberated by
a current of 16.08A supplied for 5.0 hours?
11. How long will a current of 15A take to liberate one kilogram of copper by electrolysis.
12. What current must be supplied in a refinery to produce one metric tone of copper
electrolytically within 24 hours?
13. A steel spoon is to be electroplated with silver. How long a current of 1.5A should be
passed through a silver nitrate solution in order to deposit 54g of silver metal on the
spoon?
14. What mass of will be deposited from a solution of copper (II) sulphate when a current of
7.5A is passed through for 1 minute and 40 seconds?

B: FARADAY CONSTANT
15. What current will be able to produce 20 dm 3 of chlorine by electrolysis at STP within one
hour?
16. An electric current was passed in series through solutions of calcium chloride and copper
(II) Sulphate. Carbon electrodes were used in both electrolytes. If 2.5 liters of chlorine
measured at S.T.P were produced, what volume of oxygen would also be produced?
What mass of copper was produced? (Use 1.5 dm 3∨0.75 dm3to find the values asked
above.)
17. Assume that you are a chemist in a chemical plant that deals with production of chlorine
gas. You want to produce 100 liters of chlorine gas per hour so that you can reach the
company’s goal of producing 2400 liters every day. What current of electricity will you
allow to flow per hour?
18. A current of 3.2A is passed through a solution of copper (II) Sulphate for 30 minutes.
What is the mass of copper deposited at the cathode?
19. Calculate the mass of magnesium metal that will be produced during the electrolysis of
molten magnesium chloride if a current of 1.93A is passed through for 16 minutes and 40
seconds.
20. A steady current of 2A is passed through a solution containing ions of metal M2+ for nine
minutes. The mass of metal M that is liberated is 0.3552g. calculate the relative atomic
mass of metal M. (M is not the actual symbol of the metal)

C: FARADAY’S SECOND LAW

21. A current of 10,000A is passed through an electrolytic cell for purifying copper for 12
hours.
(a) What mass of pure copper is deposited at the cathode?
(b) What mass of aluminium would be deposited if the cell was changed to refine
aluminium?
(Cu=63.5 , Al=27 , chemical equivalent of copper =3.290× 10− 4 )
22. A current flowing through an electrolytic cell deposits 0.25g of silver at6 a certain time
interval. How much copper would be deposited from a solution of copper (II) sulphate in
the same time interval using the same current?
(Ag = 108, Cu = 63.5)
23. A current of 0.5A minutes and twenty seconds through two cells in series was found to
deposit 0.216g of silver at the cathode of the first cell and 0.659g of nickel at the cathode
of the second cell. Determine:-
i. The quantity of electricity passed through the two cells.
ii. The quantity of electricity needed to deposit 1g of silver atoms.
iii. The quantity of electricity needed to deposit 1g of nickel atoms.
(Ag = 108, Ni = 59)
24. An electric current was passed through two electrolytic cells A and B. Cell A contained a
solution of copper (II) sulphate with copper electrode while cell B had a solution of silver
nitrate with a silver electrode. The gain in mass of the cathode was 0.189g and 0.6428g
respectively. Calculate the chemical equivalent of copper given that the chemical
equivalent of silver is 108.
25. A current of about 25 amperes flowed through three electric cells of copper sulphate,
diluted sulphuric acid and silver nitrate solutions which were connected in series for 1
hour, 4minutes and 20 seconds. Calculate:-
(a) The volumes of;
i. Hydrogen
ii. Oxygen liberated
(b) The masses of;
i. Copper
ii. Silver deposited
26. A current of about 2 amperes was passed for 2 hours through two electrolytic cells of
copper (II) sulphate and silver nitrate solutions which were connected in series.
i. Calculate the quantity of electricity used.
ii. How many faraday’s were used
iii. Calculate the mass of copper and silver metals which were deposited on the
cathode.
27. 289500 coulombs were required to deposit one mole of a metal element Q from its
aqueous salt solution. Calculate the valence of Q.

D: APPLICATIONS OF ELECTROLYSIS
 28. The figure below was used in an experiment to electroplate an iron knife with silver.

DC Supply

Pure silver electrode

Knife
KAg (CN) 2(aq) solution

The KAP (CN)2 containing Ag+, K+ and CN- ions.

(i) Which electrode is the cathode?
(ii) Name the process taking place at the anode as either oxidation or reduction.
(iii) Represent the process at each electrode by appropriate ionic equation
(iv) What happens to the electrolyte?

29. The following diagram represents an experiment whose aim was to electroplate an iron
fork with silver. The solution contain K+, Ag+ and CN-
 Pure silver
electrode

KAg (CN)2(aq) solution

(i) What electrode was the cathode?
(ii) Was the process which took place at the anode reduction or oxidation?
(iii) If after passing a constant current for 300 minutes the iron fork gained 2.16g of
silver. Calculate the number of coulombs and the current which flowed during
that experiment. (1 Faraday = 96,500 coulombs , Ag = 108)
30. A pupil setup the cell shown in the drawing below

Zn X Pb

Zn(NO3)2 Pb(NO3)2
 i. What does X represent
ii. What is the function of X?
iii. What is the detection of flow of electricity in the circuit?
31. The following experiment was used to electroplate a metallic neck chain. Study it and
answer the questions that follow.

Battery

+ -

Copper

(anode)

Metallic Neck chain (cathode)

CuSO4

Explain what happened to the anode and cathode and write equations for the reactions
which occurred at the electrodes.
 32. The apparatus shown in the figure below was used to electroplate a steel knife with silver
metal.

Switch

Battery
6V A
Rheostat

Copper
strip .
Spoon

Beaker
Copper (II) Sulphate solution

i. Which electrode is the cathode?

ii. Write ionic equations to show the reactions taking place at each of the electrodes.
iii. At which electrode did reduction reaction take place?
(a) Copper obtained during extraction process is known as a Blister copper which is
impure one. It is purified through electrolysis is to obtain pure copper.
(i) Name the electrolyte used to purify impure copper
(ii) Name the nature of electrode used.
(b) Consider the electroplating of a spoon using a silver metal
(i) Name the type of electrolyte that can be used
(ii) At which electrode a spoon will be placed?
(iii) Draw a well labeled diagram to represent this information process.
(iv) Write down the ionic equations at each electrode.