Fred, here are two interesting related articles. They are right on topic and make the link between the Gibbs Free Energy change we were discussing the other day and equilibrium concentrations of reactants and products:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociation_constant "Dissociation constant of water As a frequently used special case, the dissociation constant of water is often expressed as Kw: Kw = [H + ][OH ? ] (The concentration of water [H2O] is not included in the definition of kw, for reasons described in equilibrium constant.)" Water dissociation constant is nothing but the H2O autoionization reaction's equilibrium constant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equilibrium_constant "The equilibrium constant is related to the Gibbs free energy through a Boltzmann distribution as: K=e^(-dG0/RT) Where dG0 is the energy difference between reactants and products, R is the gas constant and T the absolute temperature." Haven't time to look up the figure nor do the calculation but if one plugs the Gibbs Free Energy change found the other day for water dissociation into the second equation with temperature T=273+25=298K and gas constant R = 8.31 J · K-1 · mol, and then plugs the result K into the first (Kw=K of water dissoc.), one should recover the well-known [H + ][OH ? ] =~ 10^(-14) at 25°C. Hopefully. Cheers, Michel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frederick Sparber" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 11:44 AM Subject: Re: Helmholtz Layer Metal-Water Interface, Joe Cell Etc > > 1, The battery voltage B - and B+ is divided by the floating plates F > across the 4 cells. > > 2, The naturally formed H3O + (or H + ) and OH - ions of the water > collected at the floating > plate interface allows the the electron of the OH - to go through the > floated plates to neutralize > the H3O + or H + allowing the now neutral OH and H gases to come off. The > Cathode ( - ) > and Anode ( + ) plates also discharge the ions there. > > The Battery sees the small current through the cell. > But, It Does Not See the Current of the ions discharging through the > floated plates. > > IOW. it's a Freebie due to The Natural Autoionization of Water and > Metal-Water Interface Effects. > > http://electrochem.cwru.edu/ed/encycl/art-c03-elchem-cap.htm > > B - F F f B+ > Cathode - |+ -|+ -|+ -|+ -|+ Anode
