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Anode and cathode definition8/16/2023 ![]() Thus, the anode is also defined as an electrode where an oxidation reaction occurs, and the cathode is defined as the electrode where the reduction reaction occurs.Īs electrons and protons have an equal but opposite charge, an electron flowing in one direction is equal to a proton flowing in the opposite direction. The common convention is to name the electrode of a battery that releases electrons during discharge as the anode or the negative (-) electrode and the electrode that absorbs the electrons as the cathode or the positive (+) electrode. This ambiguity in the anode and cathode designation causes confusion in battery engineering, as is necessary to have the anode and cathode associated with unique physical components. In a diode, the anode is the terminal through which current enters (as defined through conventional current) and the cathode is the terminal through which current leaves (as defined through conventional current) when the diode is forward biased. BUT we can consider the cathode as the electrode where negative charge/electrons LEAVE/FLOW OUT OF the cathode, INTO THE ELECTROLYTIC SOLUTION. So, that means electrons FLOW into the cathode of the device FROM the external circuit. Again, electron flow is opposite to the movement of conventional current flow. The Cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves (flows out of) a polarized electrical device. A positive charge first enters the anode from the external circuit, and a negative charge first enters the anode from the electrolytic solution. Thus, the anode can be considered as the electrode in which charge (positive or negative), first enters the electrode. So, in reality, negatively charged electrons flow out of the anode of galvanic cells, into an outside or external circuit connected to the cell.Įlectrons enter the anode from the electrolytic solution. The direction of conventional current (the flow of positive charges) in a circuit is opposite to the direction of electron flow. ![]() Will there ever be an exception to this rule that I have made? If this is all correct, I do not think I will be confused moving forward.Īnode: the electrode through which conventional current enters into a polarized electrical device (i.e, a diode). Please, for consistency’s sake, is this all ‘correct’. ![]()
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