Important Points to Remember: Electrochemistry – Galvanic Cells
✍️ A galvanic cell is a type of electrochemical cell that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. The electrochemical cell which converts electrical energy into chemical energy is called electrolytic cell.
✍️ Electrochemical cells are also called galvanic or voltaic cells, after the names of Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta who were the first to perform experiments on the conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy.
✍️ In a salt bridge, the electrolytes like KCl, KNO3 or NH4NO3 are preferred because their ions have almost equal transport number, viz., 0.5, i.e., they move with almost the same speed when an electric current flows through the
✍️ Galvanic cells are used to convert chemical energy into electrical energy. Two electrodes are usually set up in two separate beakers. The electrolytes taken in the two beakers are different. Galvanic cells are based upon spontaneous redox reactions. A salt bridge is used to set up this cell.
✍️ An anode is an electrode where oxidation takes place. An anode is a negative pole in a galvanic cell. In an electrolytic cell, the anode acts as the positive pole. Cathodes are electrodes where reduction takes place.
✍️ Greater the oxidation potential of metal, the more easily it can lose electrons and hence greater is its reactivity. As a result, a metal with greater oxidation potential can displace metals with lower oxidation potentials from their salt solutions.
