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10: Electrochemistry

  • Page ID
    84357
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    Elon Musk, an innovator in the field of harnessing renewable sources to generate electric power see a huge potential for electric cars to change the way Americans drive.

    • Selling an electric sports car creates an opportunity to fundamentally change the way America drives.- Elon Musk
    • I've actually made a prediction that within 30 years a majority of new cars made in the United States will be electric. And I don't mean hybrid, I mean fully electric.- Elon Musk

    Given the importance of energy production (and in particular, production from renewable sources) alluded to by Richard Smalley in his address to the United States Congress (see Chapter 1), Elon Musk’s vision seems well-aligned with Smalley’s priority. The generation and consumption of electrical energy and how it is harnessed to do work in the universe lends itself very nicely to discussion within the framework of thermodynamics. In this chapter, we will use some of the tills we have developed to relate electrochemical processes to thermodynamic variables, and to frame discussions of a few important topics.

    • 10.1: Electricity
      The passage provides a historical overview of the understanding and study of electricity, mentioning early observations by the Ancient Egyptians and experiments by William Gilbert and Benjamin Franklin. It highlights a major advancement by Alessandro Volta in 1799, who demonstrated electricity generation via a voltaic pile using chemical reactions.
    • 10.2: The connection to ΔG
      The text explains the relationship between Gibbs free energy change (??G) and the cell potential in an electrochemical cell. It describes how \(\Delta G\) indicates the maximum non p-V work and relates it to the standard cell potential. The Nernst equation is introduced to calculate cell potential considering the activities of reactants and products, detailing its application in Volta???s original battery.
    • 10.3: Half Cells and Standard Reduction Potentials
      The page explains the concept of standard reduction potentials and how to calculate cell potentials for electrochemical cells. It highlights the role of the Standard Hydrogen Electrode (SHE) as a reference point set to 0.00 V. Through examples, it demonstrates how to determine the spontaneity of reactions and calculate cell potential using standard values and the Nernst equation under non-standard conditions.
    • 10.4: Entropy of Electrochemical Cells
      This page discusses the temperature dependence of the Gibbs function and cell potential in a Daniel cell. Equations relating changes in Gibbs energy and cell potential to entropy are provided. Data for the Daniel cell is fit to a quadratic function to determine the temperature dependence of cell potential, showing that entropy change (\(\Delta S\)) affects the cell potential at different temperatures.
    • 10.5: Concentration Cells
      The generation of an electrostatic potential difference is dependent on the creation of a difference in chemical potential between two half-cells. One important manner in which this can be created is by creating a concentration difference. Using the Nernst equation, the potential difference for a concentration cell (one in which both half-cells involve the same half-reaction) can be expressed
    • 10.E: Electrochemistry (Exercises)
      Summary for Chapter 10 "Electrochemistry" in Fleming's Physical Chemistry Textmap.
    • 10.S: Electrochemistry (Summary)
      The page lists references related to electrode potentials, electric fish, a history of science, and electromagnetic theory. It also provides key vocabulary and concepts related to electrochemistry, such as anode, cathode, half-reactions, and the Nernst equation, along with learning objectives presumably related to the understanding of these terms and concepts in the context of standard cell potentials and electrochemical cells.


    This page titled 10: Electrochemistry is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Patrick Fleming.

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