Web Activities
UNIT 5: ELECTROCHEMISTRY
Unit 5 – Performance Task and Review
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Question 36
Battery technology is a very active area of research. One proposal
that shows some promise is a vanadium redox flow cell, also known as
the All Vanadium Redox Battery. Describe the general construction of
this battery, including electrodes, electrolytes, porous boundary, and
external tanks. What redox reactions occur at the electrodes within
this cell? List some unique aspects of this technology, as well as some
advantages and proposed uses.
The
Vanadium Redox Battery
This website is provided by the University of New South Wales in Australia,
where the vanadium redox battery was invented. The entire site is devoted
to this particular battery, with several links pointing to different
types of information about it. A picture gallery is also provided.
Vanadium
Battery Info
This private website contains several links to various websites, all
of which have something to do with vanadium batteries. There is an especially
large amount of information on worldwide patents that are held on the
battery, and other issues of interest to corporations.
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Question 38
Road salt is commonly used on Canadian roads, mostly during
the winter months. Recently, this use has become an issue and Environment
Canada is assessing whether road salt should be classifies as a “toxic
substance.” What is “road salt?” Compare Ontario’s
use of road salt with that of other provinces. Describe some benefits
of road salt related to its use, and some environmental and safety issues,
including specific examples related to electrochemistry and other areas.
What are some alternatives to the current use of road salt?
Use
of Road Salt for De-Icing
This website contains a report that was addressed to the government
officials of the City of Vancouver. In it, the General Manager of Engineering
Services discusses alternatives to, and substitutes for, de-icing salt,
along with a comparative cost analysis of the various options.
Smarter
Roads Mean Safer Roads
This Environment Canada website discusses the installation of many hi-tech
Road Weather Information Systems, which regularly monitor road surfaces
to forecast anti-icing needs for roads. The key to this paper is the
goal to lay road salt or brine down on roads before ice begins to accumulate.
Road
Salts an Environmental Concern
This Environment Canada website addresses the environmental concerns
about the continued use of road salt on Canadian roads. It discusses
issues such as contamination of bodies of water, and the resultant impact
on plants and animals.
Science
Assessment Finds Road Salts Toxic to the Environment
This website contains an archived report from Environment Canada. Rather
than simply raising potential problems with road salt use, this report
quantifies the problem by naming specific toxins, and estimating how
much damage they are actually doing to our environment.
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Question 40
Most chemical reactions are explained as being either electron
transfer reactions or proton transfer reactions.
a. What are the similarities and differences between electron
and proton transfer reactions?
b. State some evidence for energy changes in both electron and proton
transfers.
c. Identify a combination of chemicals that might produce either an
electron or a proton transfer reaction, and describe some diagnostic
tests that could be used to determine which reaction predominates.
The
Fall of the Electron
This Simon Fraser University website explains how we can use "electron
falling" to explain why a certain reaction might go in one direction
only, and not in the reverse. It argues that by treating reactants as
electron sources, one can use the free energy of an electron to predict
which way the electron will go.
The
Fall of the Proton
This Simon Fraser University website uses "proton falling"
to explain why acids react with bases. It essentially revives a certain
view, the "proton-free-energy" view, espoused by a scientist
in the 1950s.
Theories
of Charge Transfer and Transport
This scientific website from an American university contains information
about a specific laboratory's activities in the area of researching
charge transfer. Dr. Cukier uses simulations to study both electron
and proton transfers in solutions.
Proton-Coupled
Electron Transfer
This Massachusetts Institute of Technology website discusses a specific
process in biological systems known as proton-coupled electron transfer
(PCET). This method is described as the basic mechanism for all bioenergetic
conversions.
