Question

Aqueous copper sulphate solution and aqueous silver nitrate solution are electrolysed by 1 ampere current for 10 minutes in separate electrolytic cells. Will the mass of copper and silver deposited on the cathode be same of different? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

The mass of copper and silver deposited on the cathode in the two electrolytic cells will not be the same. This is according to second law of Electrolysis. The law states that
When the same quantity of charge is passed through the solutions of different electrolytes connected in series, the mass of the substances deposited at the respective electrodes are directly proportional to their equivalent masses. In the present case.
`("Mass of Cu deposited")/("Mass of Ag deposited")=("Gram equivalent mass of " Cu)/("Grass equivalent mass of " Ag)=(31.75)/(108)`
This means that the masses deposited are different and not same.