So in electrolysis, electrons are removed from the anode and absorbed by the water H20 molecules thus Oxygen gains 2 electrons to become neutral O2?? Explain the electron flow in electrolysis
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So in electrolysis, electrons are removed from the anode and absorbed by the water H20 molecules thus Oxygen gains 2 electrons to become neutral O2?? Explain the electron flow in electrolysis
Math Easy Solutions, not quite — the anode does the opposite of “giving oxygen electrons.” At the anode, water is oxidized and loses electrons: 2H₂O → O₂ + 4H⁺ + 4e⁻ in acidic conditions, so those electrons leave the water and go into the anode/external circuit; at the cathode, electrons are delivered to water or H⁺ to make H₂ by reduction per Chem LibreTexts and Wikipedia. So oxygen in O₂ is neutral because it’s an elemental molecule, not because O²⁻ “gains 2 electrons” there — in fact the oxygen atoms in water go from oxidation state −2 in H₂O to 0 in O₂, meaning they’re being oxidized, not reduced. Your electrolysis thread is basically circling the key idea: the power supply pulls electrons from the anode side and pushes electrons into the cathode side.
Simplify it more, make a table. So the cathode is at the negative battery terminal, and the electrons are flowing from the anode to cathode via oxidation of water? What is water oxidized? how is it going from 2H20 to splitting into its components including 4 electrons??
Math Easy Solutions, yes: the cathode is connected to the battery’s negative terminal, so it receives electrons, while the anode is connected to the positive terminal and pulls electrons away from water during oxidation per LibreTexts and Chemistry Learner. Here’s the clean version:
| Electrode | Battery side | What happens | Half-reaction || Anode | + | water loses electrons (oxidation) | 2H2O → O2 + 4H+ + 4e- || Cathode | - | H+ gains electrons (reduction) | 4H+ + 4e- → 2H2 |. “Water is oxidized” means the oxygen atoms in H2O go from oxidation state -2 to 0, so the water molecule is being forced by the battery to break apart and release electrons; those 4 electrons don’t come from nowhere, they come from the water molecules themselves as bonds rearrange into O2 and H2. Your own electrolysis Q/A thread is basically asking the right thing: the battery does the forcing, the anode steals electrons, and the cathode dumps them back into hydrogen ions.your table didn't render properly. Alright so the electrons from the battery go to the anode and that causes the water to split up? just the presence of extra electrons??
Math Easy Solutions, no — the battery’s electrons go to the cathode, not the anode. The battery does two jobs at once: it pushes electrons into the cathode so hydrogen can be reduced to H₂, and it pulls electrons out of water at the anode so water is oxidized to O₂; it’s the voltage difference, not just “extra electrons sitting there,” that forces the split in a non-spontaneous reaction per LibreTexts and Chemistry Learner. Clean version: anode (+) = water loses electrons and makes oxygen; cathode (−) = hydrogen ions/water gain electrons and make hydrogen. Your MES Math Q/A 62 thread is aimed at exactly that distinction, and the annoying part is the naming: anode is where oxidation happens even though the battery is sucking electrons away there.