Question

Explain Faraday’s Second Law of Electrolysis in detail.

Answer 1

Faraday's Laws of Electrolysis was published in 1834 by Michael Faraday. Michael Faraday conducted extensive research on electrolysis of electrolyte solutions. He was the first scientist to describe the Laws of Electrolysis in quantitative terms. He proposed two laws to explain the quantitative aspects of electrolysis, which are now known as Faraday's laws of electrolysis, namely the first and second laws of electrolysis.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
The Second Law of Electrolysis by Faraday:
“The masses of different substances are proportional to their equivalent masses when they are liberated or dissolved by the same amount of electricity.” The masses of the various materials liberated or dissolved at the respective electrodes are in the ratio of their equivalent masses when the same amount of electricity is passed through several electrolytic solutions connected in series.
Consider the following scenario:
When the same current is passed through sulphuric acid ( ${H_2}S{O_4}$ ), copper sulphate ( $CuS{O_4}$ ), and silver nitrate ( $AgN{O_3}$ ) solutions for the same amount of time, the following results are obtained:
Mass of copper/Mass of silver = Equivalent mass of copper/Equivalent mass of silver, and
Mass of copper/Mass of hydrogen = Equivalent mass of copper deposited/Equivalent mass of hydrogen gas liberated.
The second law of electrolysis states that the same amount of electricity produces or dissolves chemically equivalent amounts of all substances. Faraday is the name given to this amount of electricity (F). One Faraday is equal to 96487 coulombs per mole of electronic charges.

Note:
Faraday's laws of electrolysis can be used to calculate a substance's chemical equivalent, which is defined as the weight of the substance that will combine with or displace the unit weight of hydrogen. As a result, the chemical equivalent of hydrogen is unity.