Who Discovered Electrolysis?
A British Scientist called Michael Faraday; Faraday was born on September 22, 1791, in Newington, Surrey, England. He was the son of a blacksmith and received little formal education. While apprenticed to a bookbinder in London, he read books on scientific subjects and experimented with electricity.
The Law
In all cases, the quantity of material evolved at each electrode when current is passed through an electrolyte follows a law discovered by the British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday (as said above). This law states that the quantity of material transformed at each electrode is proportional to the quantity of electricity passed through the electrolyte, that the weight of the elements transformed is proportional to the equivalent weights of the elements, that is, to the atomic weights of the elements divided by their valences.
What is Electrolysis used for?
Electrolytic decomposition is the basis for a number of important extractive and manufacturing processes in modern industry. Caustic soda, an important chemical in the manufacture of paper, rayon, and photographic film, is produced by the electrolysis of a solution of common salt in water. The reaction produces chlorine and sodium. The sodium in turn reacts with the water in the cell to yield caustic soda. The chlorine evolved is used in pulp and paper manufacture.
An important industrial use of electrolysis is in the electrolytic furnace, which is employed in the manufacture of aluminum, magnesium, and sodium. In this furnace the resistance of a charge of metallic salts is used to heat the charge until it becomes molten and ionizes. The metal is then deposited electronically.
Electroplating of Metals
Electroplating of metals is used to purify the metals as metal atoms from the anode are plated out on the cathode. Many metals that are subject to corrosion (oxidation) can be protected by coating with a metal that is more easily oxidized at the anode where corrosion occurs. Zinc is often used as a coating to protect steel surfaces. This is called electrogalvanizing. Zinc metal is more easily oxidized having a standard oxidation potential of +0.76 than Iron metal with a standard oxidation potential of +0.04. That forces the Iron to serve as the Cathode as the more easily oxidized Zinc metal is oxidized at the Anode. This forcing of Iron to be the Cathode and therefore unreactive is called "Cathodic protection"
The jewelry industry and the auto industry use electroplating of objects for different reasons. The jewelry can be electroplated with gold, silver, or Copper in order to add luster and shine to the objects. The auto industry chromium plates many exterior parts as a protection against corrosion of the Ferrous containing parts. This is another example of "Cathodic Protection". These objects are placed on a conveyor belt and allowed to be immersed and dragged through a specially prepared Chromium bath. The time, current, and concentration of the Chromium bath is controlled scientifically by using the Laws of Electrolysis which established the stoichiometry of electrolysis.
Extracting
The most powerful way of extracting a metal from its ore is by using Electrolysis. But this is very expensive; this is probably the best way that we have come across so far. An important point in electrolysis is that Oxidation and Reduction take place but they can’t work with out each other (or can’t take place).
Conclusion
In the conclusion I am going to tell you what I have learned by doing this essay. First of all I have learned what Electrolysis is, what it does and why we need to do it another main thing I learned about is Michael Faraday who discovered electrolysis in his early years as a scientist and went on to discover the electric generator. I have also learned about electroplating and why we need to purify the metals and why we electrogalvanize and so on. I hope you have enjoyed my essay!
