Faraday paradox (electrochemistry)
Okay kiddo, so there’s a man named Faraday who discovered something called the “paradox” in something called electrochemistry.
Electrochemistry is when we use electricity to do things like turn metal into ions or move molecules around.
So, let’s say we have a copper wire and we put electricity through it. This electricity will cause the copper atoms to turn into ions, which are just tiny little pieces of the copper that have a positive or negative charge.
Now, let’s say we put this copper wire into something called a solution of copper ions. This solution has lots of copper ions swimming around in it, and they really want to stick to the copper wire.
When we put the wire in the solution, the copper ions will start sticking to the wire and turning back into regular old copper atoms. This process is called “electroplating” and it’s a way to make objects shiny and pretty.
Now, here’s where the paradox comes in. Faraday found out that if we put a really small voltage on the copper wire, it shouldn’t cause any electroplating to happen. But if we put a bigger voltage on the copper wire, the electroplating should happen faster.
This seems to make sense, right? But then Faraday did some experiments and found out that the opposite was true! Even though a small voltage shouldn’t cause any electroplating, it actually caused a little bit to happen. And when he used a bigger voltage, it caused less electroplating than the smaller one!
So why does this happen? Well, it’s because of something called “charging” and “discharging”. When we put a voltage on the copper wire, it starts to have a positive charge. This positive charge attracts the negatively charged copper ions and makes them stick to the wire.
But once the wire is covered in copper ions, it becomes negatively charged because the copper ions have a negative charge. This negative charge actually repels the copper ions, so they stop sticking to the wire!
So, a small voltage causes a little bit of electroplating because the wire isn’t charged enough to completely repel the copper ions. But if we use a bigger voltage, the wire becomes so negatively charged that it actually repels the copper ions more, causing less electroplating to happen.
And that, my dear kiddo, is the Faraday Paradox!
Electrochemistry is when we use electricity to do things like turn metal into ions or move molecules around.
So, let’s say we have a copper wire and we put electricity through it. This electricity will cause the copper atoms to turn into ions, which are just tiny little pieces of the copper that have a positive or negative charge.
Now, let’s say we put this copper wire into something called a solution of copper ions. This solution has lots of copper ions swimming around in it, and they really want to stick to the copper wire.
When we put the wire in the solution, the copper ions will start sticking to the wire and turning back into regular old copper atoms. This process is called “electroplating” and it’s a way to make objects shiny and pretty.
Now, here’s where the paradox comes in. Faraday found out that if we put a really small voltage on the copper wire, it shouldn’t cause any electroplating to happen. But if we put a bigger voltage on the copper wire, the electroplating should happen faster.
This seems to make sense, right? But then Faraday did some experiments and found out that the opposite was true! Even though a small voltage shouldn’t cause any electroplating, it actually caused a little bit to happen. And when he used a bigger voltage, it caused less electroplating than the smaller one!
So why does this happen? Well, it’s because of something called “charging” and “discharging”. When we put a voltage on the copper wire, it starts to have a positive charge. This positive charge attracts the negatively charged copper ions and makes them stick to the wire.
But once the wire is covered in copper ions, it becomes negatively charged because the copper ions have a negative charge. This negative charge actually repels the copper ions, so they stop sticking to the wire!
So, a small voltage causes a little bit of electroplating because the wire isn’t charged enough to completely repel the copper ions. But if we use a bigger voltage, the wire becomes so negatively charged that it actually repels the copper ions more, causing less electroplating to happen.
And that, my dear kiddo, is the Faraday Paradox!