Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: electrolysis



On Tue, 24 Mar 1998, Tom McCarthy wrote:

Another possibility is you may not be using the proper electrode, like
platinum, and electrolyte, like sulfuric acid or sodium sulfate. If these
conditions are not met, then chemical reactions will involve the other
substances that are in the conducting path. For instance, if NaCl is used
with Pt electrodes, Chlorine gas is created at one electrode and oxygen from
the water at the other (if my feeble mind is still firing correctly on this
one!). So, it turns out to be a question of activation energy and the one
with the lowest wins.

OK, this is beginning to make some sense. The kiddie physics book I
looked at touted _graphite_ electrodes, most books for older students tout
Pt, but none of them seem to care about explaining why. Crawford