Monday, July 18, 2011

Ion concentration versus electrical power at the electrodes?

A constant current is applied to an electrochemical cell with two single-valence metal electrodes immersed in distilled water. The electrical resistance of the cell decreases with the passage of time due to the release of metal cations into solution. Because the current is constant, it is easy to calculate how many cations are involved in the transport of the charge. My question is: how is the electrical energy and therefore the voltage related to the number of cations liberated from the electrodes. In other words, is it possible to calculate the cation concentration in the solution from the instantaneous voltage applied to the cell?

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