Electrochemical Reduction-Oxidation Lab

The purpose of this lab was to measure the reduction potentials of metals and to understand how a reduction-oxidation relationship works to produce spontaneity. Lastly, these results were used to determine the Faraday’s constant and Avogadro’s number by electrolysis, which is chemical decomposition produced by passing an electrical current through a solution with ions. The primary objective of part one of this experiment was to discover how the properties of an electrochemical cell works. An electrochemical cell is based on an oxidation-reduction reaction and is composed of two half reactions: an anode and a cathode half reaction. Oxidation typically occur at the anode and reduction at the cathode. The electrochemical cell produces an electrical current which is driven by the potential differences in the two half reactions. The
The original solution Copper (II) chloride is blue in color, and when the aluminum sulfide was placed in, the solution began to burn and the CuCl2 began to work at the aluminum, turning it into a dark brown color of porous material. The reaction was exothermic, which is when a reaction releases heat. The way to determine this if the test tube felt hot after the heat was released, since it elevates the temperature of the mixture. The reactants were Copper (II) chloride and Aluminum, which produced Copper metal and Aluminum Chloride. The color changed from brown to a murky green and eventually clear by the end of the lab. In the aluminum half-reaction, it has a charge of three and when it is reduced, it gains three electrons. It’s potential was -1.70. For the half reaction for Copper, the copper ion has a positive charge of two and when reduced gains an electron of two. It’s potential is 0.34 V. In order for a reduction reaction to occur, Aluminum must be reduced and Copper oxidized. Therefore, the overall cell potential is