On 14 Sep 2006 10:27:20 -0700, "K7ITM" wrote:

Chemistry lesson for the day:

Be careful what you call the cathode and what you call the anode.
Oxidation ALWAYS occurs at the Anode, and reduction always occurs at
the cathode. The oxidation process results in a chemical losing
electrons, and the reduction process results in a chemical gaining
electrons. (Mnemonics: "oxidation" and "anode" both start with
vowels; "reduction" and "cathode" both start with consonants. "LEO sez
GER": Loss of Electrons is Oxidation. Gain of Electrons is
Reduction.) In a cell delivering power, the ANODE is the NEGATIVE
terminal--the electrons given up in the oxidation chemical reaction
come out there. If you re-charge the cell, the roles of anode and
cathode are reversed. You feed electrons into the negative terminal,
and (with luck) cause a reduction reaction where the chemical at that
pole picks up the electrons and is converted back to what it was when
the battery was freshly charged.

Cheers,
Tom




Guilty as charged (groan).
It's just like my account with the bank where debits remove money instead of
adding money like they should do :-)


Mark Rand
RTFM