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Unit 23 Topic 5
Suggested answers to in-text activities and unit-end exercises

In-text activities
Checkpoint (page 144)
a) i) Oxygen
ii) 4OH

(aq) O
2
(g) + 2H
2
O(l) + 4e

iii)
platinum
electrode
electrode Y
hydrogen
gas G
electrode X
water with
acid added
The overall cell reaction can be represented by the following equation:
2H
2
O(l) 2H
2
(g) + O
2
(g)
The number of moles of H
2
: O
2
is 2 :1. The volume of H
2
: O
2
is also 2 :1.
b) To increase the electrical conductivity of water.
c) When hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions are discharged, more water molecules dissociate. The net effect is
that water is decomposed.
The number of hydrogen ions and sulphate ions from the sulphuric acid remain the same. The
concentration of sulphuric acid increases at the end as water is consumed in the electrolysis.
Checkpoint (page 149)
a) Sodium ions, iodide ions, hydrogen ions, hydroxide ions
b) i) A brown colour develops around electrode A.
The concentration of iodide ions in the solution is much greater than that of hydroxide ions.
lodide ions are preferentially discharged to form iodine. The brown colour is due to the iodine
formed.
ii) 2I

(aq) l
2
(aq) + 2e

c) i) A colourless gas is given off. A hydrogen ion is a stronger oxidizing agent than a sodium ion. Therefore
hydrogen ions are preferentially discharged (reduced) to form hydrogen gas.
ii) 2H
+
(aq) + 2e

H
2
(g)
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Discussion (page 154)
At the anode
The copper anode dissolves to form copper(II) ions.
At the cathode
Copper(II) ions are discharged to form a deposit of copper on the cathode.
Changes in the solution
The net effect is the transfer of copper from the anode to the cathode. The concentration of copper(II) ions in
the electrolyte remains the same. The blue colour of the solution does not change.
Checkpoint (page 156)
1 The position of ions in the electrochemical series
The concentration of ions in the solution
The nature of the electrodes
2 a) X is the negative electrode of the chemical cell.
Copper metal deposits on electrode A. Therefore electrode A is the cathode.
b) At electrode A: Cu
2+
(aq) + 2e

Cu(s)
At electrode B: Cu(s) Cu
2+
(aq) + 2e

At electrode C: 2H
+
(aq) + 2e

H
2
(g)
c) The gas gives a pop sound with a burning splint.
d) The net effect is the transfer of copper from the anode to the cathode.
The concentration of copper(II) ions in the electrolyte remains the same. The blue colour of the solution
does not change.
3 a) The mass of the copper rod would decrease.
b) Cu(s) Cu
2+
(aq) + 2e

c) Copper was transferred from the copper rod to the silver rod.
The concentration of copper(II) ions in the electrolyte remained the same. The blue colour of the
solution would not change.
Checkpoint (page 161)
1 a) Y
b) The silver electrode dissolves and it becomes thinner.
Ag(s) Ag
+
(aq) + e

c) Ag
+
(aq) + e

Ag(s)
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2 a) It is not necessary to remove ions of metals which are more reactive than zinc from the solution before
electrolysis.
Zinc ions will be preferentially discharged and
ions of more reactive metals will remain in the solution.
b) At the anode
4OH

(aq) O
2
(g) + 2H
2
O(l) + 4e

At the cathode
Zn
2+
(aq) + 2e

Zn(s)
Checkpoint (page 163)
a) i) Adding a suitable reducing agent, e.g. sodium sulphite
ii) 3SO
3
2
(aq) + Cr
2
O
7
2
(aq) + 8H
+
(aq) 3SO
4
2
(aq) + 2Cr
3+
(aq) + 4H
2
O(l)
b) To displace less reactive metal ions (such as nickel(II) ions, copper(II) ions and chromium(III) ions) and recover
them.
STSE Connections (page 164)
1 Displacement / reduction
2 Potassium is more reactive than aluminium and should be able to displace aluminium from its compounds.
3 Chlorine is very toxic to water lives.
Pollution by mercury compounds in rivers can poison people who eat fish from polluted rivers.
4 Yes
Wohler did not use mercury.
5 The electrolysis method no longer used mercury, potassium and chlorine, all of which could cause harm to
human health and environment.
Mercury vapour is toxic.
Potassium is very reactive, highly flammable and corrosive.
Chlorine is toxic, causing serious lung damage if breathed in.
The electrolysis method produced less waste materials.
6 Al
3+
(l) + 3e

Al(s)
7 The anode reacts with the oxygen gas formed there to make carbon dioxide.
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Unit-end exercises (pages 170 179)
Answers for the HKCEE (Paper 1) and HKALE questions are not provided.
1
electrolytic cell
chemical cell
inside
generates
used by brings out
anode
discharged here discharged here
reduction
process that
occurs
electrode connected
to negative electrode
of d.c. supply
electrode connected
to positive electrode
of d.c. supply
process that
occurs
cathode
cations
chemical
reactions
electricity
anions
oxidation
2
Solution
Material of Product at
Change in the
solution
anode cathode anode cathode
Dilute sulphuric acid platinum platinum oxygen gas hydrogen gas
becomes more
concentrated
Very dilute sodium chloride carbon carbon oxygen gas hydrogen gas
becomes more
concentrated
Concentrated sodium chloride carbon carbon chlorine gas hydrogen gas
becomes sodium
hydroxide solution
Concentrated sodium chloride carbon mercury chlorine gas sodium becomes more dilute
Dilute copper(II) sulphate carbon carbon oxygen gas copper becomes sulphuric acid
Dilute copper(II) sulphate copper carbon copper(II) ions copper remains the same
Dilute copper(II) sulphate copper copper copper(II) ions copper remains the same
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3 d.c. power supply
nickel
anode
nickel plating
solution
iron object
as cathode
4
e l e c t r o l y s i s
1
3 2
4
6 7
8 9
5
10 11
o x i d a t i o n
a
i
o
n
n
d l
e
c
t
r
o
p
l
a
e l e c t r o d e
c a t h o d e
a
b
o
n
c a t i o n
e
e
e
t
r
o
l
y
l
a
m
t
e
r
m
r e d u c t i o n
i
n
g
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5 C Electrolysis of dilute copper(II) sulphate solution using carbon electrodes:

carbon electrode
(cathode)
copper deposit
dilute copper()
sulphate solution
oxygen gas
carbon electrode
(anode)
Option A Copper(II) ions are preferentially discharged (reduced) to form a deposit of copper on the
cathode.
Cu
2+
(aq) + 2e

Cu(s)
Option C Overall cell reaction:
2Cu
2+
(aq) + 4OH

(aq) 2Cu(s) + O
2
(g) + 2H
2
O(l)
Copper(II) ions and hydroxide ions are consumed in the electrolysis.
Hydrogen ions and sulphate ions remain in the solution. The solution eventually becomes
sulphuric acid. Hence the pH of the solution decreases.
Option D The concentration of copper(II) ion in the solution decreases.
6 D At the anode
Hydroxide ions are preferentially discharged (oxidized) to form oxygen gas.
4OH

(aq) O
2
(g) + 2H
2
O(l) + 4e

Water dissociates continuously to replace the hydroxide ions discharged at the anode.
H
2
O(l) H
+
(aq) + OH

(aq)
Thus there is an excess of hydrogen ions around the anode. The solution there becomes acidic, i.e. the
pH of the solution around the anode decreases.
At the cathode
Hydrogen ions are discharged (reduced) to form hydrogen gas.
2H
+
(aq) + 2e

H
2
(g)
Water dissociates continuously to replace the hydrogen ions discharged at the cathode. Thus there is
an excess of hydroxide ions around the cathode. The solution there becomes alkaline, i.e. the pH of the
solution around the cathode increases.
7 A
8 A
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9 C
d.c.
power
supply
impure
copper
(anode)
copper(II)
suIphate
soIution
pure copper
(cathode)
copper from
anode
siIver impurity
+ -
At the anode impure copper
Copper gives up electrons to form copper(II) ions.
Cu(s) Cu
2+
(aq) + 2e

The silver impurity settles at the bottom of the container.

At the cathode pure copper
Copper(II) ions are discharged to form copper.
Cu
2+
(aq) + 2e

Cu(s)
10 C Experimental set-up for plating an iron bolt with nickel:
d.c. power
supply
nickel
electrode
(anode)
Ni
2+
iron bolt
(cathode)
nickel()
sulphate
solution
+ -
Ni
2+
Overall cell reaction
Ni(s) nickel on iron bolt
(anode) (cathode)
Option A In the experiment, the nickel is gradually transferred onto the iron bolt. Hence the mass of
the iron bolt increases.
Option C The nickel(II) ions are reduced at the cathode.
Ni
2+
(aq) + 2e

Ni(s)
Option D The net effect is the transfer of nickel from the nickel electrode to the iron bolt.
The rate at which nickel deposits on the iron bolt is equal to the rate at which the nickel
electrodedissolves.Hencetheconcentrationofnickel(II)ionsinthesolutionremainsthesame.
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11 B
12 D
13
14
15 a) i) At the anode
2Cl

(aq) Cl
2
(g) + 2e

ii) At the cathode

Na
+
(aq) + e

+ Hg(l) Na/Hg(l)
b) i) Sodium hydroxide and hydrogen
ii) The sodium formed dissolves in the mercury cathode to form an alloy called sodium amalgam.
The sodium amalgam then moves towards the water. The sodium reacts with water to form sodium
hydroxide and hydrogen.
2Na/Hg(l) + 2H
2
O(l) 2NaOH(aq) + H
2
(g) + 2Hg(l)
c) Sodium ions and chloride ions are consumed in the electrolysis. Thus the sodium chloride solution
becomes more and more dilute.
16 a) At the carbon electrode X
The sulphate ions and hydroxide ions are attracted to electrode X.
A hydroxide ion is a stronger reducing agent than a sulphate ion.
Therefore hydroxide ions are preferentially discharged.
At the carbon electrode Y
The copper(II) ions and hydrogen ions are attracted to electrode Y.
A copper(II) ion is a stronger oxidizing agent than a hydrogen ion.
Therefore copper(II) ions are preferentially discharged to form a deposit of copper on electrode Y.
b) At the carbon electrode X
4OH

(aq) O
2
(g) + 2H
2
O(l) + 4e

At the carbon electrode Y

Cu
2+
(aq) + 2e

Cu(s)
c) The solution becomes sulphuric acid.
This is because copper(II) ions and hydroxide ions are consumed in the electrolysis.
Hydrogen ions and sulphate ions remain in the solution.
d) The net effect is the transfer of copper from electrode X to electrode Y.
The dilute copper(II) sulphate solution remains the same.
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17 a) Electroplating is the coating of an object with a thin layer of a metal by electrolysis.
b) To make the knob a conductor of electricity for the nickel-plating process.
c) The solution contains mobile ions.
d) The nickel electrode
e) Ni
2+
(aq) + 2e

Ni(s)
f) The concentration of nickel(II) ions in the electrolyte can be maintained.
g) To recover the nickel metal.
Nickel(ll) ions are readily absorbed into the bodies of water lives. Human may get poisoned by
eating them.
18 a) i) Cu
2+
(aq) + 2e

Cu(s)
ii) Both Cl

(aq) ions and OH

(aq) ions are attracted to the anode.

The concentration of Cl

(aq) ions is much higher than that of OH

(aq) ions.
Therefore Cl

(aq) ions are preferentially discharged to give chlorine gas.

b) The concentration of copper(II) ions in the solution decreases.
c) i) At the cathode: hydrogen
At the anode: oxygen
ii) All copper(II) ions and chloride ions are discharged, so only H
+
(aq) ions and OH

(aq) ions are left.

OR All copper(II) ions are discharged and the concentration of chloride ions becomes very low, so
H
+
(aq) ions and OH

(aq) ions are preferentially discharged.

iii) At the cathode
2H
+
(aq) + 2e

H
2
(g)
At the anode
4OH

(aq) O
2
(g) + 2H
2
O(l) + 4e

19
20
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21 Which ions are preferentially discharged during electrolysis depends on a number of factors, including:
the position of ions in the electrochemical series;
the concentration of ions in the solution; and
the nature of the electrodes.
Consider the electrolysis of very dilute sodium chloride solution using carbon electrodes. The sodium ions
and hydrogen ions move towards the cathode. A hydrogen ion is a stronger oxidizing agent than a sodium
ion. Therefore hydrogen ions are preferentially discharged at the cathode.
The chloride ions and hydroxide ions move towards the anode. A hydroxide ion is a stronger reducing agent
than a chloride ion. Therefore hydroxide ions are preferentially discharged at the anode.
Consider the electrolysis of concentrated sodium chloride solution using carbon electrodes. The chloride ions
and hydroxide ions move towards the anode.
The concentration of chloride ions in the solution is much greater than that of hydroxide ions. Chloride ions
are preferentially discharged.
Consider the electrolysis of concentrated sodium chloride solution using a mercury cathode. A sodium ion is
a weaker oxidizing agent than a hydrogen ion. However, if mercury is used as the cathode, sodium ions are
preferentially discharged to form sodium metal.