faraday unit
Name: Faraday unit
Details:
During electrolysis, an electric current is run through a compound, either in water, or in a molten state, to break it down into its individual elements. The amount of electric charge utilized is measured by a unit called a ‘faraday.’ Faradays are named after Michael [named after] Faraday*, who discovered electrolysis. One faraday is equal to about 96,485 coulombs (an ampere-second) and represents the amount of charge carried by one mole of electrons (6.02 x 1023 electrons).
Faraday’s law states “the number of moles of substance produced at an electrode during electrolysis is directly proportional to the number of moles of electrons transferred at that electrode.” Faradays are required to produce those moles at the electrodes.
How many faradays it takes to produce one mole of each substance depends on the oxidation and reduction of the particular substance, and more faradays are required to reduce some compounds into their elements than for others.
Oneliner: The faraday
Bibliography:
- “Michael Faraday.” Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2003. http://0-galenet.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/servlet/BioRC.
- Roper, Gerald C. “Faraday’s Laws of Electrolysis. Retrieved from Online version of Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. December 2 http://go.grolier.com.
- “Faraday’s Law”. Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2003. Retrieved Online December 2 from http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/F/Faradays.asp.
- “Capacitance”. Retrieved Online December 3 from: http://www.-lep.gsfc.nasa.gov/lepedu/glossary.html.