Page:The fundamental laws of electrolytic conduction.djvu/64

 of adjacent molecules, as shown in Fig. 1. It is assumed in the figure that the distance between the neighboring molecules of the electrolyte is greater than that between the chemically bound ions of each individual molecule. This assumption is certainly permissible in those cases which we shall alone have to consider later—namely, those in which the electrolyte is brought into the liquid state by means of a solvent.

The first action of the current consists in bringing the particles of the body to be decomposed into such a position that the cation of each molecule is turned towards the cathode, and

Fig. 1 the anion towards the anode. The two ions then separate from each other, move in opposite directions, and thereby meet with the neighboring ions likewise migrating (Fig. 1, b). By this process, however, they have arrived in a position where each anion is turned towards the cathode, and each cation towards the anode. There must therefore result a rotation of each molecule, and the reverse position be established, if the same constituent is to be continuously liberated at the same electrode (Fig. 1, c). It would certainly be of great importance if we could represent these motions, to which the smallest particles of an electrolyte are subjected during the passage of the current, more definitely than in these most general outlines. They would not only throw light on the nature of electricity, but also on the chemical constitution of bodies.

In many cases it seems possible to determine by experiment the relative distances through which the two ions move during electrolysis. As we shall be concerned only with this point in what follows, we will give prominence to it alone in the figure.