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GCSE

Process of Electrolysis

Question

What is an electrolyte?

2 years ago

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H

Horace Nolan


24 Answers

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Electrolytes are ionic compounds that are: in the molten state (heated so they become liquids), ordissolved in water.

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Sarathi Pandit

In cell chemistry, an electrolyte is a liquid that is an ionic compound. This liquid has ions which enables the electricity to be conducted. It can be in a molten state, or an in an aqueous solution. Both the anode and cathode are placed within the electrolyte.

A
Aribah

A solution containing ions which conducts electricity

S
Sajni Haria

A substance which when in solution conducts an electric current

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A substance that breaks up into ions when it is dissolved in water. An electrolyte is a solution that contains ions that are electrically conducting through the movement of ions.

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An electrolyte is an substance in chemistry, usually liquid but gel electrolytes are also possible, containing mobile ions. Thus electrolytes are limited to either salt solutions or solutions of acids or alkalis or gel materials containing the same. When a DC potential difference or electric field is applied across an electrolyte the ions move or migrate with negative ( -ve ) ions moving to the positive electrode or anode and positive ions (+ve) moving to the negative electrode or cathode. As a memory aid, just think about attraction of the opposites! Electrolytes as a function of this movement of ions or so called ionic conductivity are therefore conductors of electricity. Besides been in solution as electrolytes, salts can also be made into electrolytes by direct melting from their crystalline state but very high temperatures are needed between about 800-2000C depending on the precise salt.

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lectrolyte, in chemistry and physics, substance that conducts electric current as a result of a dissociation into positively and negatively charged particles called ions, which migrate toward and ordinarily are discharged at the negative and positive terminals (cathode and anode) of an electric circuit, respectively. The most familiar electrolytes are acids, bases, and salts, which ionize when dissolved in such solvents as water or alcohol. Many salts, such as sodium chloride, behave as electrolytes when melted in the absence of any solvent; and some, such as silver iodide, are electrolytes even in the solid state.

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M
Muhammad Zohaib Sabir

Substance that have neutral positive and negative charges when dissolved in water

N
Naimah Akhtar

An electrolyte is a substance that produces an electrically conducting solution when dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water. The dissolved electrolyte separates into cations and anions. Cations are positively charged ions and anions are negatively charged ions.

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An electrolyte is the liquid through which an electric current is passed during electrolysis. It is an ionic compound in either a molten (melted) state or dissolved in solution.

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Emma Wallace

Minerals that carry an electric charge

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AAA

In the context of chemistry an electrolyte must have ions(cations/positively

charged ions & anions/negatively charged ions) that are able to move freely thereby allowing electrical conductivity/electricity to pass through. Therefore, electrolytes are ionic compounds in their liquid state (molten) or dissolved in a solvent such as water where the ions get

separated and become mobile/free to move, thus become electrically conductive.


One of the applications of electrolytes in chemistry is, extracting reactive

metals from their ores by electrolysis. For example, extracting aluminium from

aluminium ore, here, the electrolyte used is aluminium oxide /Al2O3

dissolved in cryolite which is the solvent . Electrolytes are also found in our

bodies and are essential for our body systems to function properly. 

 

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An electrolyte is a substance that can be broken into its respective ions. The substance is usually an aqueous or molten (melted) ionic compound.

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An electrolyte is a solution that is being electrolysed. It may be a soluble compound that has ben dissolved in water or it may be a compound that has been heated and is molten. An electrolyte needs to be in the liquid state so that the ions can move, they cannot move when they are solid.

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An electrolyte is a solution typically used in the process of electrolysis, it is made when an ionic compound is dissolved in a solvent. Because it is an ionic compound it means there are free flowing electrons which leads to the electrolyte conducting electricity.

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