Electrochemistry
Cell-potential and redox direction workflows linking electrode data, feasibility, electrolysis outcomes, and electron accounting.
This route helps when you keep missing the same type of question across different topics. Use it to combine lesson notes with linked practice and tools in one place.
Notes and Hubs in This Route
- Hydrogen as a Fuel and Fuel Cells
Learn why hydrogen is a potential fuel, how a hydrogen fuel cell generates electricity directly, and how production affects its environmental impact.
- Electroplating: Growing a Metal Coating
Explain how a metal coating grows on the cathode, choose the electrolyte and anode, and connect electron transfer to electrode changes.
- Simple Electric Cells
Learn how simple cells produce electrical energy: use the reactivity series to identify polarity, electron flow, observations and half-equations.
- Electrolysis of Aqueous Compounds
Aqueous electrolysis: water vs solute ions, preferential discharge rules, and how concentration and electrode type change the products.
- Electrolysis of Molten Compounds
Molten electrolysis: predict cathode/anode products from ions present (no water competing), then write correct half-equations and overall equations.
- Metal Extraction and Compound Stability
Explain metal-oxide reduction, the effects of heating carbonates and how reactivity affects metal extraction.
- Purifying Copper by Electrolysis
Explain how copper transfers from an impure anode to a pure cathode, track copper ions and electrode masses, and distinguish impurity paths.
- The Reactivity Series of Metals
Use water, steam, dilute-acid and displacement observations to compare metals and explain electron transfer.
- Redox Reactions
Redox reactions: oxidation vs reduction, electron transfer, oxidation state changes, and identifying oxidising and reducing agents in reactions.
- Rusting and Protecting Iron
Use controlled rusting evidence to explain barriers, galvanising and sacrificial protection with magnesium.
- Types of Electrodes in Electrolysis
Inert vs reactive electrodes: explain how a copper anode can dissolve instead of producing oxygen and how this affects products, mass and concentration.
- What Is Electrolysis?
Understand why electrolytes need mobile ions, distinguish charge movement in wires and liquids, and identify oxidation and reduction at the electrodes.
- Writing and Checking Electrode Half-Equations
Construct electrode half-equations, balance atoms and charge, cancel equal electron transfers, and connect the equations to observed products.
- Transition Elements
Learn the typical K324 / 6092 properties of transition elements: high melting points and densities, variable oxidation states, coloured compounds and catalysts.
- Electrolysis Predictions and Faraday’s Law (A Level)
Predict molten and aqueous electrolysis products, write balanced half-equations, and calculate charge, electron amount, mass or gas volume using Faraday’s law.
- Batteries and Fuel Cells (A Level)
Compare primary vs secondary cells, write key half-equations, and understand the hydrogen–oxygen fuel cell as a practical electrochemical system.
- Cell Potentials and Spontaneity (A Level)
Calculate E°cell, predict electron flow direction, and connect the sign of E°cell to feasibility under standard conditions.
- Complex Ions, Ligands, Ligand Exchange (A Level)
Define ligands and complexes, then explain the prescribed copper(II) water, ammonia and chloride exchanges and oxygen/carbon monoxide exchange in haemoglobin.
- d-Orbital Splitting and Colour (A Level)
Use octahedral d-orbital orientation, splitting and d–d transitions to explain why many transition-metal complexes are coloured.
- ΔG = −nFE (A Level)
Link electrode potentials to energetics using ΔG° = −nFE°cell, and connect feasibility, electron count, and cell voltage in one chain.
- Electrochemistry (A Level)
A Level electrochemistry notes: standard electrode potentials, cell EMF and spontaneity, redox equations from half-equations, and electrolysis/Faraday’s law.
- Entropy and Gibbs Free Energy (A Level)
Predict entropy change and use ΔG° = ΔH° − TΔS° to decide feasibility, with careful signs, units, and data-booklet cues.
- Standard Electrode Potentials and the SHE (A Level)
Define standard electrode potential (E°), understand standard conditions, and use the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) as the reference half-cell.
- Transition Elements (A Level)
A Level transition elements notes: electron configurations, complex ions, variable oxidation states/redox, colour (d splitting), and catalysis.
- Transition Elements: Definition and Electron Configurations (A Level)
Apply both branches of the 9476 transition-element definition, write first-row atom and ion configurations, and explain the series’ physical trends.
- Transition-metal Catalysis (A Level)
Explain transition-element catalysis through surface adsorption or regenerated redox intermediates across the prescribed heterogeneous and homogeneous contexts.
- Variable Oxidation States and Redox Systems (A Level)
Explain variable oxidation states in transition elements, and write key redox half-equations for Fe, MnO4− and Cr2O7^2− with conditions and colour changes.
- Writing Redox Equations from Half-equations (A Level)
Combine half-equations into balanced overall redox equations, using E° values to decide which half-equation is reversed (oxidation).