A half-reaction must occur at the anode. Hypothesize the anodic half- reaction r

Question

A half-reaction must occur at the anode. Hypothesize the anodic half- reaction reaction that occurs and combine it with the cathodic half-reaction reaction for copper to yield the overall net reaction occurring during the electrolysis of this experiment. Hint: Consider the oxidation of water. When you electrolyze water, what gas is produced at the anode? (you may have observed this gas being produced during the electrolysis making the solution appear cloudy) You can find it in Appendix C. Water contains only hydrogen and oxygen, so look under those two elements. All aqueous solutions have H' and OH- available, but don't select a half-reaction with other species that are not present in this experiment.

Explanation / Answer

Since water has H+ and OH- ions in smaller proportions, when it is electrolysed, the anions,OH-, undergo oxidation at anode to produce O2 gas.

At Anode: 4 OH- (aq.) -----------> 2 H2O (l) + O2 (g) + 4 e

Hence Oxygen gas is produced at anode.

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