ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Butler–Volmer equation

The Butler-Volmer equation is a way to understand what happens when you pass electricity through a mixture of chemicals.

Imagine you have two chemicals, let's call them chemical A and chemical B. These chemicals can react with each other to make a new chemical, chemical C. When you pass electricity through this mixture, electrons are transferred from one chemical to another, allowing the reaction to happen and create chemical C.

The Butler-Volmer equation helps us understand how fast this reaction is happening. It tells us that the rate of the reaction is determined by two things:

1. How much electricity you are passing through the mixture (this is called the current).

2. How easily electrons can move from one chemical to another (this is called the transfer coefficient).

The equation also takes into account things like the temperature of the mixture and how the chemicals are arranged in the mixture.

So in simple terms, the Butler-Volmer equation helps us understand how chemical reactions happen when we pass electricity through a mixture. The equation tells us how fast the reaction is happening and what factors influence that speed.