Question #e2fdd
1 Answer
The "movement" might be an arbitrary direction, but we would usually think of the electron as the "negative" particle actually moving.
Explanation:
The "+" pole might also be thought of as a "hole" that does NOT contain an electron. The "-" ion has an 'extra' one, so to balance the 'load' it will move to put it into that hole.
Physical ions – either positive or negative – are attracted to the opposite pole in the same way that a magnetic attracts some metals. The ‘positive’ ions move to the negative pole, and the ‘negative’ ions move to the positive pole. Electrolysis is different from magnetism in that it is a dynamic chemical process instead of a static “field” effect. When the ions arrive at the attractive pole, the exchange/movement of electrons actually changes the chemical structure of the atoms/ions into a more stable form – usually the pure metal.
The other analogy is the mathematics. Th "neutral" atom is just the result of the positive (+) and negative (-) parts "cancelling out" to a neutral (0).
WHY do they move or react at all? Again, think of it as a BALANCE. The universe is always moving towards a minimum energy state (maximum entropy, Second Law of Thermodynamics). Usually, a combination to a neutral state is a lower energy condition than two separate, charged particles.
This works both ways, chemically. In a "galvanic" cell the reaction is spontaneous, and produces an electrical current, or a battery. In an electrolysis an external voltage is applied to the poles that drive the reaction in the reverse direction. Different atoms have a different tendency to lose or gain electrons, and their ranking in the “electrochemical series” can be used to design batteries or metal plating systems.
