My Notes
Categories
This is a question based approach for a discovery activity about cyclic voltammetry. The slider bar on a movie can used to control a variable and the displayed graph is updated to show the results. (You could also just play the movie to get an idea of what changes.)
The questions to be answered are
What is the shape of a cyclic voltammogram?
How are cyclic voltammograms affected by E0?
How are cyclic voltammograms affected by concentration?
How are redox equilibria affected by scan rate?
What if there are two reductions?
How are cyclic voltammograms affected by the electron transfer rate?
How are cyclic voltammograms affected by changing scan rate if the electron transfer is slow?
Students will understand how to interpret the shape of a simple cyclic voltammogram and the effects of redox potential, concentration, scan rate, and electron transfer rate.
This can be used in lecture or assigned as homework/reading.
Evaluation
This approach has been used for several years in an analytical course as preparation for a cyclic voltammetry lab experiment.
Most students who have spent 20 minutes engaged with the material can interpret their cyclic voltammetry lab results.