The product formed at the the cathode during the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution with carbon electrodes is?
sodium
chlorine
hydrogen
sodium hydroxide
oxygen
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Discussions (22)
The answer provided is correct. I.e Hydrogen is discharged at the cathode.
Reason: There is difference between electrolysis of molten sodium chloride and that of sodium chloride solution. The electrolysis of molten sodium chloride solution deposits sodium at the cathode and and chlorine at the anode (ie leaving the concentration of the solution unchanged). But during the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution, Hydrogen is discharged at the cathode because the reduction of Na+ (E° = –2.7 v) is energetically more difficult than the reduction of water (–1.23 v), and so Hydrogen is preferencially discharged at the cathode and oxygen at the anode (ie the alkalinity of the solution increases due to removal of water and leaving behind Na+ and OH-).
Hydrogen I think is correct bcos it will be discharged in preference to "Na" (position in the electro chemical series)
the answer is sodium because of the nature of electrode. if mercury is used, sodium will be discharge in preference because of the it's strong affinity to sodium to produce sodium amalgam. so, the discharge of sodium requires less energy than that of hydrogen despite there difference in the series.But what if mercury wasn't used??
During the electrolysis of aqueous sodium chloride, sodium ions having a greater tendency than water to get oxidized, gets oxidized and forms sodium at the cathode
So option A is d most appropriate option
chlorine is correct
anions are positive ions
cations are negative ions
cathode are positive electrodes
anode are negative electrodes
therefore Cl- ion will be deposited at the cathode
after all positive goes to negative
