Concentration cell calculator
Concentration cell
Diving deep into the realm of electrochemistry, understanding concentration cells becomes pivotal. But what exactly are they? And how does one calculate the potential difference created by different concentrations? Our Concentration Cell Calculator is here to demystify these questions. Read on for a comprehensive breakdown!
- How to use the Concentration Cell Calculator?
- What is a Concentration Cell?
- The Nernst Equation explained
How to use the Concentration Cell Calculator?
Our calculator is intuitive and user-friendly. Here's a breakdown of the terms you'll encounter:
- Standard Electrode Potential (E°) - The potential difference when concentrations are at standard states.
- Temperature (T in Kelvin) - Generally at 298.15 K for most ambient conditions.
- Number of Electrons (n) - Dependent on the redox reaction taking place in the cell.
- Concentrations - Input the concentrations of the reduced and oxidized species.
What is a Concentration Cell?
A concentration cell is an electrochemical setup where both electrodes are the same material, but they are immersed in solutions of different concentrations. This difference in concentration results in a potential difference, and this drives a current until equilibrium is reached.
The Nernst Equation explained
To determine the potential of a concentration cell, we use the Nernst Equation:
E = E° - \dfrac{RT}{nF} \ln \left( \dfrac{[C_{\text{reduced}}]}{[C_{\text{oxidized}}]} \right)- E - The cell potential
- E° - The standard electrode potential
- R - The universal gas constant (8.314 J/(mol K))
- T - Temperature in Kelvin
- n - Number of electrons transferred in the redox reaction
- F - Faraday's constant (approximately 96485 C/mol)
- Creduced and Coxidized - Concentrations of the reduced and oxidized species respectively
Real-World Example
Let's say you have a concentration cell with a copper electrode in a 1.0 M Cu²⁺ solution connected to another copper electrode in a 0.01 M Cu²⁺ solution. Using the calculator:
- Input E° for the Cu/Cu²⁺ redox couple: +0.34 V.
- Temperature remains 298.15 K.
- Two electrons are transferred in the Cu/Cu²⁺ redox reaction, so n is 2.
- Input concentrations: 1.0 M for Creduced and 0.01 M for Coxidized.
- On calculation, you’ll obtain the potential difference driving the current in this cell!
Tags
- General Chemistry Calculators
- Organic Chemistry
- Stoichiometric Calculations
- Mixtures and Solutions Calculators
- Chemical Reactions Calculators
- Chemical Thermodynamics
- Electrochemistry
- Biochemistry