Electrolytic Cells
● An electrolytic cell is a non-favored reaction in which an outside
source of current is needed for the cell to function
● In an electrolytic cell, the solution itself is being oxidized/reduced, not
the actual anode and cathode themselves. The electrodes are not
part of the reaction and simply serve as electric conductors
● Electrolytic cells are generally aqueous solutions, and the
oxidation/reduction reactions that occur can either be of the ions in
solution, or of water
● Electrolytic cells are always non-favored, and have negative values
for Eocell and positive values for ΔG. In addition, the value of Keq is
always less than one (the reactants are favored)
Selecting Half-Reactions
● To figure out what is being oxidized and what is being reduced,
examine the Eored for each possible half reaction. To do that, first
determine what species are present at the start of the reaction. Water
is always present, as are a cation and an anion
● At the cathode, the reduction will be either of the cation or water. Of
the two, the most positive value for Eored will be the half-reaction which
occurs
● At the anode, the oxidation will be either of the anion or water. Of the
two, the least positive Eored indicates the half-reaction which occurs
● You should memorize the half-reactions for both the reduction and
the oxidation of water (but not their SRPs)
Example
● Current is run through a solution of cobalt (II) chloride
● (a) Write the balanced equation for the reduction half reaction.
● Co2+ + 2e- 🡪 Co (s)
● (b)Write the balanced equation for the oxidation half reaction.
● 2 H2O (l) 🡪 O2 (g) + 4 H+ + 4 e-
● (c) Write the balanced equation for the overall reaction that takes
place in the cell.
● 2 Co2+ + 2 H2O (l) 🡪 O2 (g) + 4 H+ + 2 Co (s)
● (d) Calculate the cell potential
● -0.28 – 1.23 = -1.51 V
Electroplating
● We can mix electrolysis and stoichiometry to calculate the
amount of metal that can be plated out of a solution at the
cathode
● Only metallic ions with a SRP higher than that of water
can be plated out of an aqueous solution
● How long would it take to plate out 2.00 g of solid tin from
a solution containing Sn2+ ions if a current of 9.0 A is run
through
