acknowledgement

First of all I would like to thank our principal Mr.

Mohit Sachdeva for providing us a good set of
teachers, well infrastructure and the most
important , a good environment for studies.

I'm very thankful to my teacher Mrs. Manju

Kasana mam for her overall support.

I'm thankful to our lab assistant Ms. Lakshmi mam

for her unique support in my completing my
project effectively.

Last but not the least I would like to thank my

parents who gave me different ideas to help
complete this project.

THANK YOU
 contents

1. Certificate
2. Acknowledgement
3. What is electrochemistry?
4. What is galvanic cell?
5. Electrochemical cells and their
chemistry
6. Nernst Equation
7. Observations and Observation Tables
8. Conclusion
9. Precautions
10. Sources of error
11. Photo gallery
12. Bibliography
 What is Electrochemistry?
Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry that studies the
relationship between electricity, as a measurable and quantitative
phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with either electricity
considered an outcome of a particular chemical change or vice versa.
These reactions involve electric charges moving between electrodes
and an electrolyte (or ionic species in a solution). Thus electrochemistry
deals with the interaction between electrical energy and chemical
change.

When a chemical reaction is caused by an externally supplied current,

as in electrolysis, or if an electric current is produced by a spontaneous
chemical reaction as in a battery, it is called an electrochemical
reaction. Chemical reactions where electrons are transferred directly
between molecules and/or atoms are called oxidation-reduction or
(redox) reactions. In general, electrochemistry describes the overall
reactions when individual redox reactions are separate but connected
by an external electric circuit and an intervening electrolyte.
 what is galvanic cell?
A galvanic cell, or voltaic cell, named after Luigi Galvani, or
Alessandro Volta respectively, is an electrochemical cell that
derives electrical energy from spontaneous redox reactions taking
place within the cell. It generally consists of two different metals
connected by a salt bridge, or individual half-cells separated by a
porous membrane.

Volta was the inventor of the voltaic pile, the first electrical battery.
In common usage, the word "battery" has come to include a
single galvanic cell, but a battery properly consists of multiple
cells.

Electrochemical Cells and their Chemistry

An electrochemical cell consists of two half-cells. Each

half-cell consists of an electrode and an electrolyte. The
two half-cells may use the same electrolyte, or they may
use different electrolytes. The chemical reactions in the
cell may involve the electrolyte, the electrodes, or an
external substance (as in fuel cells that may use hydrogen
gas as a reactant). In a full electrochemical cell, species
from one half-cell lose electrons (oxidation) to their
electrode while species from the other half-cell gain
electrons (reduction) from their electrode.

A salt bridge (e.g., filter paper soaked in KNO3, NaCl, or some

other electrolyte) is often employed to provide ionic
contact between two half-cells with different electrolytes,
yet prevent the solutions from mixing and causing
unwanted side reactions. An alternative to a salt bridge is
to allow direct contact (and mixing) between the two half-
cells, for example in simple electrolysis of water.
As electrons flow from one half-cell to the other through an
external circuit, a difference in charge is established. If no
ionic contact were provided, this charge difference would
quickly prevent the further flow of electrons. A salt bridge
allows the flow of negative or positive ions to maintain a
steady-state charge distribution between the oxidation and
reduction vessels, while keeping the contents otherwise
separate. Other devices for achieving separation of
solutions are porous pots and gelled solutions. A porous
pot is used in the Bunsen cell.
Equilibrium reaction

Each half-cell has a characteristic voltage. Various

choices of substances for each half-cell give different
potential differences. Each reaction is undergoing an
equilibrium reaction between different oxidation states of the ions:
When equilibrium is reached, the cell cannot provide
further voltage. In the half-cell that is undergoing oxidation,
the closer the equilibrium lies to the ion/atom with the
more positive oxidation state the more potential this
reaction will provide. Likewise, in the reduction reaction,
the closer the equilibrium lies to the ion/atom with the
more negative oxidation state the higher the potential.
Cell potential

The cell potential can be predicted through the use of

electrode potentials (the voltages of each half-cell). These half-cell
potentials are defined relative to the assignment of 0 volts
to the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE). The difference
in voltage between electrode potentials gives a prediction
for the potential measured. When calculating the
difference in voltage, one must first rewrite the half-cell
reaction equations to obtain a balanced oxidation-
reduction equation.
1. Reverse the reduction reaction with the smallest
potential ( to create an oxidation reaction/ overall
positive cell potential)
2. Half-reactions must be multiplied by integers to
achieve electron balance.
Cell potentials have a possible range of roughly zero to 6
volts. Cells using water-based electrolytes are usually
limited to cell potentials less than about 2.5 volts, because
the very powerful oxidizing and reducing agents that would
be required to produce a higher cell potential tend to react
with the water. Higher cell potentials are possible with
cells using other solvents instead of water. For instance,
lithium cells with a voltage of 3 volts are commonly available.

The cell potential depends on the concentration of the

reactants, as well as their type. As the cell is discharged,
the concentration of the reactants decreases and the cell
potential also decreases.

Standard electrode potential

In electrochemistry, the standard electrode potential,
abbreviated E or E (with a superscript plimsoll
character, pronounced "standard" or "nought"), is the
measure of individual potential of a reversible electrode at
standard state, which is with solutes at an effective
concentration of 1 mol dm3, and gases at a pressure of 1
atm. The reduction potential is an intensive property. The
values are most often tabulated at 25C. The basis for an
electrochemical cell such as the galvanic cell is always a
redox reaction which can be broken down into two half-
reactions: oxidation at anode (loss of electron) and
reduction at cathode (gain of electron). Electricity is
generated due to electric potential difference between two
electrodes. This potential difference is created as a result
of the difference between individual potentials of the two
metal electrodes with respect to the electrolyte. (Reversible
electrode is an electrode that owes its potential to changes
of a reversible nature, in contrast to electrodes used in
electroplating which are destroyed during their use.)

Although the overall potential of a cell can be measured,

there is no simple way to accurately measure the
electrode/electrolyte potentials in isolation. The electric potential also
varies with temperature, concentration and pressure.
Since the oxidation potential of a half-reaction is the
negative of the reduction potential in a redox reaction, it is
sufficient to calculate either one of the potentials.
Therefore, standard electrode potential is commonly
written as standard reduction potential.

In a galvanic cell, where a spontaneous redox reaction

drives the cell to produce an electric potential, Gibbs
free energy G must be negative, in accordance with
the following equation:
Gcell = nFEcell
where n is number of moles of electrons per mole of
products and F is the Faraday constant, ~96485 C/mol. As
such, the following rules apply:
If Ecell > 0, then the process is spontaneous
(galvanic cell)
 If Ecell < 0, then the process is non-spontaneous
(electrolytic cell)
Thus in order to have a spontaneous reaction (G < 0),
Ecell must be positive, where:
Ecell=EcathodeEanode
where Eanode is the standard potential at the anode and
Ecathode is the standard potential at the cathode as
given in the table of standard electrode potential.

Nernst equation

In electrochemistry, the Nernst equation is an equation

that relates the reduction potential of an electrochemical
reaction (half-cell or full cell reaction) to the standard
electrode potential, temperature, and activities (often
approximated by concentrations) of the chemical species
undergoing reduction and oxidation. It is the most
important equation in the field of electrochemistry. It is
named after the German physical chemist who first
formulated it, Walther Nernst.
 Main Investigatory Experiment
Aim:-
To study the change in EMF of a Daniel cell with change in
concentration of solutions and study the effect of
temperature on EMF of the cell.

Materials Required:-
Filter paper
Glass rod
Beakers
Weighing balance
China dish
Distilled water
Connecting wires
A key
Multimeter
Bunsen burner

Chemicals:-
 ZnSO4 crystals
CuSO4 crystals
KNO3 crystals
Agar Agar powder
Zn and Cu plates

Theory
As all the theory has been discussed earlier such as
electrochemistry, galvanic cell and electrochemical cell. Let us
again summarize it.
Daniel cell is a galvanic cell/electrochemical cell that produces
electricity on the basis of a chemical change and it uses the
change in Gibbs free energy change during a redox reaction to
produce electricity.

Electrode potential is the tendency of an electrode to get

reduce or oxidize.

Construction:-
Electrolytes: CuSO4 & ZnSO4 solutions

Electrodes: Zn as anode and Cu as cathode

Salt bridge: A filter paper dissolved in solution of KNO3
Cathode: at cathode copper starts to reduce from Cu2+ to Cu3+
Anode: at anode zinc starts to oxidize from Zn to Zn2+

PROCEDURE

Preparing salt bridge

First of all prepare a 50ml of 1M KNO3 solution by
dissolving 5.05g of