CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

electron spin    →   elektronski spin

Electron spin (s) is the quantum number, equal to 1/2, that specifies the intrinsic angular momentum of the electron.

electron volt    →   elektronvolt

Electron volt (eV) is a non-SI unit of energy used in atomic and nuclear physics, equal to approximately 1.602 177×10^-19 J. The electron volt is defined as the kinetic energy acquired by an electron upon acceleration through a potential difference of 1 V.

calomel electrode    →   kalomel elektroda

Calomel electrode is a type of half cell in which the electrode is mercury coated with calomel (Hg₂Cl₂) and the electrolyte is a solution of potassium chloride and saturated calomel. In the calomel half cell the overall reaction is

Table: Dependence of potential of calomel electrode upon temperature and concentration of KCl according to standard hydrogen electrode

electroorganic reaction    →   elektroorganske reakcije

Electroorganic reaction is an organic reaction produced in an electrolytic cell. Electroorganic reactions are used to synthesise compounds that are difficult to produce by conventional techniques. An example of an electroorganic reaction is Kolbe’s method of synthesising alkanes.

electrostatics    →   elektrostatika

Electrostatics study of electric charges at rest.

conditional electrode potential    →   uvjetni elektrodni potencijal

Conditional or formal electrode potential (E°’) is equal to electrode potential (E) when overall concentrations of oxidised and reduced form in all its forms in a solution are equal to one. Conditional electrode potential includes all effects made by reactions that do not take part in the electron exchange, but lead to change of ion power, changes of pH, hydrolysis, complexing, precipitating, etc.

At 298 K (25 °C) and by converting natural (Napierian) logarithms into decimal (common, or Briggian) logarithms, Nernst’s equation for electrode potential can be written as follows:

dropping mercury electrode    →   kapajuća živina elektroda

Dropping mercury electrode (DME) is a working electrode arrangement for polarography in which mercury continuously drops from a reservoir through a capillary tube (internal diameter 0.03 - 0.05 mm) into the solution. The optimum interval between drops for most analyses is between 2 and 5 s. The unique advantage to the use of the DME is that the constant renewal of the electrode surface, exposed to the test solution, eliminates the effects of electrode poisoning.

electrochemical cell    →   elektrokemijski članak

Electrochemical cell is a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy or vice versa when a chemical reaction is occurring in the cell. It consist of two electronically conducting phases (e.g., solid or liquid metals, semiconductors, etc) connected by an ionically conducting phase (e.g. aqueous or non-aqueous solution, molten salt, ionically conducting solid). As an electric current passes, it must change from electronic current to ionic current and back to electronic current. These changes of conduction mode are always accompanied by oxidation/reduction reactions.

An essential feature of the electrochemical cell is that the simultaneously occurring oxidation-reduction reactions are spatially separated. E.g., in a spontaneous chemical reaction during the oxidation of hydrogen by oxygen to water, electrons are passed directly from the hydrogen to the oxygen.

In contrast, in the spontaneous electrochemical reaction in a galvanic cell the hydrogen is oxidised at the anode by transferring electrons to the anode and the oxygen is reduced at the cathode by accepting electrons from the cathode. The ions produced in the electrode reactions, in this case positive hydrogen ions and the negative hydroxyl (OH^-) ions, will recombine in the solution to form the final product of the reaction: water. During this process the electrons are conducted from the anode to the cathode through an outside electric circuit where the electric current can drive a motor, light a light bulb, etc. The reaction can also be reversed: water can be decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by the application of electrical power in an electrolytic cell.

electrochemical series    →   elektrokemijski niz

Electrochemical series is a series of chemical elements arranged in order of their standard electrode potentials. The hydrogen electrode

is taken as having zero electrode potential. An electrode potential is, by definition, a reduction potential.

Elements that have a greater tendency than hydrogen to lose electrons to their solution are taken as electropositive; those that gain electrons from their solution are below hydrogen in the series and are called electronegative.

The series shows the order in which metals replace one another from their salts; electropositive metals will replace hydrogen from acids.

electrode of the first kind    →   elektroda prvog reda

Electrode of the first kind is a simple metal electrode immersed in a solution containing its own ion (e.g., silver immersed in a silver nitrate solution). The equilibrium potential of this electrode is a function of the concentration (more correctly of activity) of the cation of the electrode metal in the solution (see Nernst’s electrode potential equation).