http://www.ck12.orgCHAPTER
(^23) Electrochemistry
Chapter Outline
23.1 ELECTROCHEMICALCELLS
23.2 CELLPOTENTIALS
23.3 Electrolysis
23.4 REFERENCES
Aluminum cans are a very common sight in everyday life. In the Earth’s crust, aluminum is the most abundant metal
and the third most abundant element overall. However, aluminum rarely exists naturally as the free element. The
most common aluminum ore is called bauxite. At one time in history, the processing of bauxite into pure aluminum
was extremely difficult and expensive. Even in the late 1800s, aluminum metal was more precious than gold. Pure
aluminum was worthy of display in museums and was used only by royalty and the very wealthy. What changed
between then and now? Aluminum metal is now prepared by a process called electrolysis, which consists of passing
an electric current through molten aluminum oxide. In this chapter, you will learn about electrochemistry, which
involves the interrelationship between electrical energy and chemical energy in redox reactions.
Image co pyright Oleksiy Mark, 2014 .www.shutterstock.com.U sed under license f rom Shutterstock.com.