THE FARADAY LAW OF ELECTROLYSIS
IIn his researches
Faraday studied also the
electrolysis. He used the electrolytic cell with some solution
inside. In the solution he assumed the subsistence of the N number
of atoms of some element. Each of those particles had the same mass
m. and the positive charge q. Next he assumed that the whole
electric charge passage through the electrolyte was transferred
only by those atoms. During the passage of current the
Nx number of those atoms was collected at the negative
electrode. The mass of the electrodeposit Mx is
equal:
(1)
The whole charge passage Q through that electrolyte is equal:
(2)
Dividing the first formula by the second one we get:
(3)
So the Mx can be calculated from it. It is equal:
(4)
The mass m of the element can be shown as the product of that
element's atomic weight and the constant d equal 1/12th of the
carbon's atomic weight:
(5)
We can also assume that the charge q of the particle is the product
of that element's valence number and some elementary charge
q0:
(6)
The whole charge passage Q through the electrolyte is also the
product of the current intensity I and the time of current passage
t:
(7)
So the formula no.4:
(8)
is now in the following shape:
(9)
One of the formula's elements d/0 is constant. So let's
name it F:
(10)
The inference is that the mass of the electrodeposit should equal
the product of the current intensity I, the time of current passage
t, some constant F and the division of the element's atomic weight
by its valence number.
The experiment affirmed
that. So when the subsistence of some elementary portion of charge
was assumed, the theory was in agreement with the experiment.
Faraday however wasn't quite sure about the idea of
the granular consistence of current.
