glavanic cell and increasing emf

[pizza1994]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

why will increasing the concentration of the oxidant at the cathode increase the emf of a glavanic cell?

 

[NextStepTutor_2]

Because you are changing concentrations, we can assume the cell is not under standard conditions (everything at 1M concentrations). Therefore, look to the nernst equation for the new EMF.

Ecell = E0cell - (RT/nF)lnQ

In this case, increasing the concentration of oxidant at the cathode changes the Q value. If you write out the full reaction for the cell, you can determine products and reactants and see how varying concentrations increase or decrease E from its standard value.

 

[pizza1994]

Because you are changing concentrations, we can assume the cell is not under standard conditions (everything at 1M concentrations). Therefore, look to the nernst equation for the new EMF.

Ecell = E0cell - (RT/nF)lnQ

In this case, increasing the concentration of oxidant at the cathode changes the Q value. If you write out the full reaction for the cell, you can determine products and reactants and see how varying concentrations increase or decrease E from its standard value.

thanks 🙂