CHM211H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 21: Saturated Calomel Electrode, Standard Hydrogen Electrode, Silver Chloride
Document Summary
Short-hand cell notation of a typical: reference electrode|salt bridge|analyte solution|indicator electrode. A reference electrode is a half-cell having a known electrode potential that remains constant at constant temperature and is independent of the composition of the analyte solution. An indicator electrode has a potential that varies in a known way with variations in the concentration of an analyte. The third component of a potentiometric cell is a salt bridge that prevents the components of the analyte solution from mixing with those of the reference electrode. Potassium chloride is a nearly ideal electrolyte for the salt bridge because the mobilities of the k1 ion and the cl2 ion are nearly equal. The net potential across the salt bridge, ej, is thereby reduced. An ideal electrode has a potential that is accurately known, constant and completely insensitive to the composition of the analyte solution.
