In Season 2 of Breaking Bad, Jesse and Heisenberg end up stranded in the desert

Question

In Season 2 of Breaking Bad, Jesse and Heisenberg end up stranded in the desert because the battery of the RV is dead. Walter builds a homemade battery to jumpstart the engine. He uses brake pads that contain mercuric oxide (HgO) and galvanized steel which is a source of Zn metal. The electrolyte he uses is KOH. Relevant data can be found in Appendix B. i. Write down the relevant half reactions. ii. What is the overall spontaneous electrochemical reaction? iii. Calculate the standard potential for this reaction.

Explanation / Answer

(i)

Anode : Zn(s) -------------> Zn2+(aq) + 2e-    ( oxidation )

Cathode : HgO(s) + 2H2O(l) + 2e- ---------------> Hg(l) + 2OH-(aq)

(ii)

Zn(s) + HgO(s) + 2H2O(l) ------------> Hg(l) + Zn2+(aq) + 2 OH-(aq)

(iii)

E0cell = E0cathode - E0anode

E0cell = 0.0977 - ( -0.762)

E0cell = 0.8597 V

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