CHAPTER 20: ELECTROCHEMISTRY

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

You should know the meaning of the following terms:

oxidation, reduction, oxidizing agent, reducing agent, electrolyte, cathode, anode, galvanic (voltaic) cell, electrolytic cell, standard electrode (reduction) potential, Nernst equation, Faraday (you should know the numerical value of the Faraday constant), electrolysis, battery, corrosion, overvoltage.

You should be able to calculate oxidation numbers for atoms in compounds and ions

You should be able to balance oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction equations using the ion-electron (half-reaction) method

You should be able to use a table of standard electrode potentials to:

                       calculate cell emf's under standard conditions

                       determine the direction/spontaneity of a reaction

                       determine the relative strengths of oxidizing or reducing agents

                       predict the probable reactions in electrolytic cells.

You should be familiar with the relation between cell emf and the change in Gibbs free energy for the net cell reaction and be able to calculate equilibrium constants from standard electrode potentials.

You should be able to use the Nernst equation to calculate electrode potentials under other than standard conditions (including the emf of a concentration cell).

You should be able to solve stoichiometry problems involving Faraday's laws (both for electrolytic and galvanic cells).

You should be familiar with some of the common galvanic cells and common applications of electrolytic cells.

You should be familiar with the electrochemical basis of the corrosion of metals (esp. iron)

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You should review the material in Chapter 4 on oxidation-reduction reactions (Section 4) and understand the relation between standard electrode potentials and the activity series presented there.