GENERAL NOTE ON ELECTROLYSIS:

GENERAL NOTE ON ELECTROLYSIS:
Any molten or dissolved material in which the liquid contains free moving ions is called the electrolyte.
Ions are charged particles e.g. Na+ sodium ion, or Cl– chloride ion, and their movement or flow constitutes an electric current, because a current is moving charged particles.
What does the complete electrical circuit consist of?
There are two ion currents in the electrolyte flowing in opposite directions:
positive cations e.g. Al3+ attracted to the negative cathode electrode,
and negative anions e.g. O2– attracted to the positive anode electrode,
BUT remember no electrons flow in the electrolyte, only in the graphite or metal wiring!
The circuit of 'charge flow' is completed by the electrons moving around the external circuit e.g. copper wire or graphite electrode, from the positive to the negative electrode
This e– flow from +ve to –ve electrode perhaps doesn't make sense until you look at the electrode reactions, electrons released at the +ve anode move round the external circuit to produce the electron rich negative cathode electrode.
Electron balancing: In the above process it takes the removal of four electrons from two oxide ions to form one oxygen molecule and the gain of three electrons by each aluminium ion to form one aluminium atom.
Therefore for every 12 electrons you get 3 oxygen molecules and 4 aluminium atoms formed.
This means you can do mole ratio product calculations.