Physics Lesson 15.8.3 - Electric Current in Liquids

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Welcome to our Physics lesson on Electric Current in Liquids, this is the third lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Miscellaneous, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.

Electric Current in Liquids

In tutorial 15.4 "Electric Circuits. Series and Parallel Circuits. Short Circuits", we have explained how a wet cell works. A wet cell is an example of the existence of electric current in liquids.

Pure water does not conduct electricity. Therefore, we must add some acidic element in it. The cheapest and most accessible material for this purpose is the table salt.

As explained earlier, the liquid acid is known as electrolyte and the two metal plates (usually made of zinc and copper) are known as electrodes - zinc electrode that is connected to the positive terminal of battery is called anode while the copper electrode connected to the negative terminal of battery is called cathode. The current inside the electrolyte is conducted by the positive and negative ions (electricity carriers) while electrons conduct the electricity through the conducting wires outside the electrolyte. The figure below shows how the electricity produced by a wet cell flows when table salt (NaCl) is used as an electrolyte.

Physics Tutorials: This image provides visual information for the physics tutorial Miscellaneous

The zinc plate (anode) gains electrons (it becomes negatively charged) while the copper plate releases them. These electrons travel through the electrolyte in the ionic form, i.e. some molecules of the electrolyte dissolve and become positive and negative ions. This process maintains a steady flow of current in the circuit.

The process of charges flow through an electrolyte is called electrolysis.

You have reached the end of Physics lesson 15.8.3 Electric Current in Liquids. There are 5 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Miscellaneous, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.

More Miscellaneous Lessons and Learning Resources

Electrodynamics Learning Material
Tutorial ID	Physics Tutorial Title	Revision Notes	Revision Questions
15.8	Miscellaneous
Lesson ID	Physics Lesson Title	Lesson	Video Lesson
15.8.1	Measurement of Current and Voltage
15.8.2	Superconductivity
15.8.3	Electric Current in Liquids
15.8.4	Faraday's Law for Electrolysis
15.8.5	Electric Current in Gases

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