Set current (A) and time (min) to calculate exactly how much product forms at each electrode using Faraday's law: Q = It, mol e⁻ = Q/F.
Electrolysis calculations are where electrochemistry becomes concrete, quantitative chemistry — given a current and a time, Faraday's law tells you exactly how many grams of a specific product will form at each electrode, a calculation type that appears throughout AP Chemistry Unit 9 and real industrial chemistry.
The calculation chain starts with charge: Q = It, where I is current in amperes and t is time in seconds, giving charge in coulombs. Dividing charge by Faraday's constant (F = 96,485 C per mole of electrons) converts coulombs directly to moles of electrons transferred — the bridge between an electrical measurement and a chemical quantity. From moles of electrons, the relevant half-reaction's stoichiometry (n, the number of electrons per formula unit deposited or produced) converts to moles of product, and multiplying by molar mass gives the final mass: m = (MIt)/(nF).
Electrode wiring conventions in an electrolytic cell are the reverse of a galvanic cell: because an external power source is forcing the reaction, the anode connects to the positive terminal and the cathode to the negative terminal — oxidation still occurs at the anode and reduction still occurs at the cathode, but which electrode is "positive" flips compared to a spontaneous galvanic cell.
Molten NaCl electrolysis (the Downs process) produces sodium metal at the cathode and chlorine gas at the anode — industrially essential since sodium cannot be isolated by any chemical reduction method, only electrolysis. Electrolysis of water splits H2O into H2 gas at the cathode and O2 gas at the anode in a 2:1 volume ratio, directly reflecting the reaction stoichiometry. CuSO4 electroplating deposits a controlled thickness of copper metal onto a cathode object, with thickness directly calculable from current and time via Faraday's law. The Hall-Héroult process uses the same underlying calculation to extract aluminum metal from molten alumina at industrial scale.
This simulator lets you set current and time for real electrolysis scenarios and calculates exactly how much product forms at each electrode using Faraday's law — connecting an abstract equation to real, checkable industrial-scale numbers.