Delhi Public School, Etawah

In the fulfilment of Class XI-2024

for Chemistry (043)

A Project on
“Electrochemical Cell and EMF”

Submitted By Submitted To
Harshvrdhan Yadav Mr Vimlesh
Kumar
Roll No. 7
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Harshvardhan Yadav of

class 12th A has successfully completed the project in

chemistry on topic “Electrochemical Cell and

EMF” in the fulfilment of AISSCE–2024 for the Subject

Chemistry (043) during the academic year 2023-24.

Subject In-charge Principal

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Primarily I would Thank GOD, THAT WHO IS for being

able to complete this project with success. Then I would like to
thank my Parents who helped me with their valuable
suggestions.

Then I would like to thank our Principal Ma’am Mrs

Bhavana Singh and my Chemistry Teacher Mr Vimlesh
Kumar whose guidance has been the ones that helped me
patch my project with success.

Last but not the least I would thank my friends and

classmates who helped me a lot.

Harshvardhan Yadav
 INDEX

S.no Topic

1 INTRODUCTION
2 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
3 SALT BRIDGE AND ITS FUNCTION
4 STANDARD EMF OF AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL
5 SOME IMPORTANT FEATURES
6 PROCEDURE
7 OBSERVATIONS
8 CONCLUSION
9 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 INTRODUCTION

Electro-Chemical Cell

Whenever a redox reaction is allowed to take place directly in a

single beaker, it is found that the solution becomes hot. For
example, when zinc is placed in a copper solution, the solution
is found to be warmer as the reaction proceeds according to
the equation.

Zn(s) +CuSO4 (aq) → ZnSO4 (aq) +Cu(s)

Similar results are observed when a rod of copper is placed in

silver solution. The reaction taking place as follows:

Cu(s) + 2AgNo3 → Cu(NO3)2 + 2Ag

Thus, we conclude that whenever a redox takes place directly

in a single in a single beaker, chemical energy in the form of
heat is produced. By suitable means it is possible to bring out
the redox reaction indirectly so as to convert the chemical
energy into the electrical energy.

Representation of an Electrochemical Cell

An electrochemical cell is represented in a manner an
illustrated below.

i.e., by convention, the electrode on which oxidation takes

place is written on the left-hand side and the other electrode on
which reduction takes place is written on the right-hand side.
The electrode of the left-hand side is written by writing the
symbol of the metal first followed by the symbol of the ion with
its concentration in brackets. The electrode on the right-hand
side is written by first writing the ion along with its
concentration in brackets followed by the symbol of the metal.

Experimental Setup

A zinc rod is placed in the zinc sulphate solution taken in a

beaker. A copper rod is placed in the copper sulphate solution
taken in another beaker. The two rods are connected by a wire
and two solutions are connected by a salt bridge.
Salt bridge and Its Function

A salt-bridge is a U-shaped tube containing concentrated

solution of an inert electrolyte like KCL, KNO 3, K2SO4 etc. An
inert electrolyte is one whose ions do not take part in the redox
reaction and also do not react with electrolyte used. The
function of the salt bridge is to allow the movement of the ions
from one solution to the other without mixing of the two
solutions. Thus, whereas the electrons flow in the outer circuit
in the wire, the inner circuit is completed by the flow of ions
from one solution to the other through the salt bridge
moreover, it helps to maintain the electrical neutrality of the
solution of the two half cells.

Thus, the main functions of the salt bridge are:

 To complete the electrical circuit by allowing the ions to

flow from one solution to the other without mixing of the
two solutions.
  To maintain the electrical neutrality of the solutions in the
two half cells.

Let us see what would happen if the salt bridge were not used
in the cells show in the following diagram. Electrons are given
out by the zinc electrode where they will neutralize some of
the Cu2+ ions of the solution. Thus SO 42- ions will not leave and
the solution will acquire a negative charge. At the same time,
Zn2+ ions produced from zinc plate will enter ZnSo 4 solution.
After some time, the flow of electrons will stop and hence the
current stops flowing.

Standard EMF of an Electrochemical Cell

An electrochemical cell is based on reaction which can be split

into the two half reactions:

 Oxidation half reaction

 Reduction half reaction

Standard EMF of the cell: The electromotive force of a cell or

EMF of a cell is the maximum potential difference between two
electrodes of a cell

Ecell = Ecathode - Eanode

Where,

Ecell = Electrode Potential of the cell

Ecathode = Electrode Potential of the oxidation half reaction

Eanode = Electrode Potential of the oxidation half reaction

 According to Nernst Equation, the relation between
concentration of electrode and the standard electrode potential
can be given as:

Where,

E = Electrode Potential at non-standard conditions

E° = Electrode potential at standard conditions
N = Number of electrons transferred in the equation
[M] = concentration of the metal
[Mn+] = concentration of metal ion
Some Important Features

 The electrode at which oxidation takes place is called the

anode. The electrode at which the reduction takes place
is called the cathode.
 Since electrons are produced at the zinc electrodes, this
electrode is rich in electrons, which pushes the electrons
into the external circuit and hence it is designated as the
negative pole. The other electrode, i.e. the copper
electrode is in the need of electrons for the reduction of
Cu2+ ions into the Cu.
 The electrons flow from the negative pole to the positive
pole in the external circuit. However, conventionally, this
current is set to flow in the opposite direction.
 The oxidation of Zn into ions produces excess of Zn 2+ ions
in the left beaker. This creates an unbalanced positive
charge in the solution. To maintain electrical neutrality of
the solution in the two beakers, the cations and anions
move through the salt bridge.
 As copper from copper sulphate solution is deposited on
the copper electrode and sulphate ions migrate to the
other side, the concentration of the copper sulphate
solution decreases. As the cell operates consequently, the
current falls.
 Evidently, the weight of the copper rod will increase while
that of zinc rod will decrease as the cell works.
Procedure

 Take two clean beakers.

 In one beaker take 0.5M copper sulphate solution and in
the other take 0.5M zinc sulphate solution.
 Take a copper strip and clean it using a sandpaper.
 Dip the copper strip into the beaker containing the 1M
copper sulphate solution.
 Similarly, take a zinc strip and clean it using a sandpaper.
 Then dip into the beaker containing 1M zinc sulphate
solution.
 Take a salt bridge and connect the two solutions using
the salt bridge.
 Take a voltmeter and connect the copper strip to the
positive terminal and the zinc strip to the negative
terminal using connecting wires.
 Note the positive of the pointer in the voltmeter and
record the reading.
 Repeat the experiment by taking different concentration
of zinc sulphate and the copper sulphate solutions.

S.no. MCuSo4 MZnSo4 EMF

1 0.5 0.5 0.98V

2 0.5 0.25 0.81V

3 0.25 0.25 0.90V

Observations
Conclusion

With these observations, we conclude that EMF of the cell

increases with decreases in the concentration of the electrolyte
around the anode and the increase in the concentration of the
electrolyte around the cathode.
Bibliography

1. Chemistry Part-1, Textbook for class XII

2. http://www.chemistryexplained.com/Di-Fa/
Electrochemistry.html
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniell_cell
4. http://chemcollective.org/chem/electrochem/step2_cell