The experiment wishes to determine if the multimeter can be used a substitute for

the ph meter.

The experiment has both a cathode and an anode,

Reduction in the cathode: 2H2O + 2 e- H2 (gas) + 2OH-

Oxidation in the anode: 2H
2
O -> 4H
+
+ O
2
+ 4e-

The following reaction proceeds because the oxidation of SO
4

2-
would require a very high
potential for the reaction to proceed. Mg 2+, a member of family II would also be very hard to
reduce, hence the water from both the anode and the cathode respectively are reduced. Oxygen
evolution, which has a lower potential is favored in the presence of water. The initial cathode is
basic due to the formation of a weak complex base Mg(OH)2, the change in basicity would
become more apparent.

The cathode which decomposes into H2 and OH- also indicates the formation of bubbles (H2).
The presence of H2 was tested by the group by exposure to flame. (H2 was present due to the
flame reacting with said gas). Due to the formation of OH-, the cathode would then be more
basic. (E = -0.414 V)


The Anode, which decomposes into 4H+ and O2 makes this electrode more acidic due to the
excess H+ as compared to the equilibrium. The formation of O2 gas would then be signified by
the bubbles in the sample. (E =+0.815 V)

Basically, the reaction is just the hydrolysis of water, facilitated by a salt bridge which allows ion
exchange without the H+ and OH- produced interacting with each other. Based on data
comparison, the same concept applies with Na2SO4 dissolved in water, giving near the data
produced in the experiment.

As the reaction proceeded, the H2O on both sides were consumed, with MgSO4 seemingly
recrystallizing due to supersaturation. MgSO4 was not reactive throughout the entire experiment,
it simply facilitated the ion exchange by increasing the dissolved ions in the system. The MgSO4
was useful in the experiment to reduce power loss driving the current to the solution.

The experiment determined that the slight difference in pH produced in both the anode and the
cathode only caused a slight change to the potential difference required to facilitate electrolysis.
(less than 0.0001 volts). Experimentation also determined that making the anode more acidic
slightly increases said potential difference while making the cathode more basic slightly
decreases potential difference.

It can be observed that the data change on both the anode and cathode was at a seemingly
constant rate for the 1 hour and 30 minute duration time. This may indicate that the reactivity of
the water was constant althroughout the experiment due to the lack of contaminants in the set-up.
The slowing of the rate of pH change near the 1 hour and 30 mark may indicate the power loss
spent on heat. Heat is released to the environment when current travels, indicating at least 20%
of energy loss.


Compared to the usage of the regular pH meter, using the multimeter has more disadvantages.
Using the multimeter entails the usage of electrolysis, requiring a high voltage that can potentially
endanger companies and plants if used in large scale. The change in pH is also difficult to record
using the multimeter as it does not have a constant temperature setting that the pH meter
contains. Lastly, the percent differences between the computed pH using the multimeter and the
pH meter exceeds the analytical limit 2% which makes it less accurate to use than that of the pH
meter.