Faraday’s law of electrolysis

Faraday’s law of electrolysis

The factor s affecting the quantities of matter liberated during the process of electrolysis were  investigated by faraday.

First Law: The mass of a substance liberated at an electrode is directly proportional to the charge passing through the electrolyte.

            If an electric current I is passed through the electrolyte for a time t, the amount of charge (q) passed is It. According to the law, mass of substance liberated (m) is

                                    M α q   or m=zit

Where Z is constant for the substance being liberated called as electrochemical equivalent. Its unit is kg C^-1.

            The electrochemical equivalent of a substance is defined as the mass of substance liberated in electrolysis when one coulomb charge is passed through the electrolyte.

Second Law: The mass of a substance liberated at an electrode by a given amount of charge is proportional to the chemical equivalent of the substance.

            If E is the chemical equivalent of a substance, from the second law

                                                            mαE