Anode
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An anode is an electrode through which electric current flows into a polarised electrical device. Mnemonic: ACE (Anode Current Enters).
It follows from this universal definition that in a galvanic cell, shown as an illustrative example, the anode is the negative electrode, where conventional current flows inwards. This inwards current is carried externally by electrons moving outwards, negative charge moving one way amounting to positive current flowing the other way. It is continued internally by positive ions moving into the electrolyte. In an electrolytic cell, the anode is the positive terminal, which receives current from an external generator. In a diode, it is the terminal at the tail of the arrow symbol, where current flows into the device.
An electrode through which current flows the other way (out) is a cathode.
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[edit] Etymology
The word was coined in 1834 from the Greek ἄνοδος (anodos), 'way up', by William Whewell, who had been consulted[1] by Michael Faraday over some new names needed to complete a paper on the recently discovered process of electrolysis. In that paper Faraday explained that when an electrolytic cell is oriented so that electric current traverses the "decomposing body" (electrolyte) in a direction "from East to West, or, which will strengthen this help to the memory, that in which the sun appears to move", the anode is where the current enters the electrolyte, on the East side: "ano upwards, odos a way ; the way which the sun rises" ([2], reprinted in [3]).
The use of 'East' to mean the 'in' direction (actually 'in' → 'East' → 'sunrise' → 'up') may appear unnecessarily contrived. Previously, as related in the first reference cited above, Faraday had used the more straightforward term "eisode" (the doorway where the current enters). His motivation for changing it to something meaning 'the East electrode' (other candidates had been "eastode", "oriode" and "anatolode") was to make it immune to a possible later change in the direction convention for current, whose exact nature was not known at the time. The reference he used to this effect was the Earth's magnetic field direction, which at that time was believed to be invariant. He fundamentally defined his arbitrary orientation for the cell as being that in which the internal current would run parallel to and in the same direction as a hypothetical magnetizing current loop around the local line of latitude which would induce a magnetic dipole field oriented like the Earth's. This made the internal current East to West as previously mentioned, but in the event of a later convention change it would have become West to East, so that the East electrode would not have been the 'way in' any more. Therefore "eisode" would have become inappropriate, whereas "anode" meaning 'East electrode' would have remained correct with respect to the unchanged direction of the actual phenomenon underlying the current, then unknown but, he thought, unambiguously defined by the magnetic reference. In retrospect the name change was unfortunate, not only because the Greek roots alone do not reveal the anode's function any more, but more importantly because, as we now know, the Earth's magnetic field direction on which the "anode" term is based is subject to reversals whereas the current direction convention on which the "eisode" term was based has no reason to change in the future.
Since the later discovery of the electron an easier to remember, and more durably correct technically although historically false etymology has been suggested: anode, from the Greek anodos, 'way up', 'the way (up) out of the cell (or other device) for electrons'.
[edit] Flow of electrons
The flow of electrons is always from anode–to–cathode outside of the cell or device, regardless of the cell or device type. Note that in most electronic circuit diagrams, the symbols for diodes and transistors point in the direction of conventional electric current (charge flow), which flows from positive to negative. However, in a metallic conductor, the current is carried by electrons that flow the other way, from negative to positive.
[edit] Electrolytic anode
In electrochemistry, the anode is where oxidation occurs, and is the positive polarity contact in an electrolytic cell. At the anode, anions are forced by the electrical potential to react chemically and give off electrons (oxidation) which then flow up and into the driving circuit.
[edit] Battery or galvanic cell anode
In a battery or galvanic cell, the anode is the negative contact from which electrons flow towards the circuit. Internally the anions are flowing to the anodic material inside the cell which is connected to the negative contact of the cell; but, external to the cell in the circuit, electrons are being pushed out through the negative contact and thus through the circuit by the voltage potential.
In the United States, many battery manufacturers regard the positive electrode as the anode, particularly in their technical literature. Though technically incorrect, it does resolve the problem of which electrode is the anode in a secondary (or rechargeable) cell. Using the traditional definition, the anode switches ends between charge and discharge cycles.
[edit] Vacuum tube anode
In electronic vacuum devices such as a cathode ray tube, the anode is the positively charged electron collector. In a tube, the anode is a charged positive plate that collects the electrons emitted by the cathode through electric attraction.
[edit] Diode anode
In a semiconductor diode, the anode is the P-doped layer which initially supplies holes to the junction. In the junction region, the holes supplied by the anode combine with electrons supplied from the N-doped region, creating a depleted zone. As the P-doped layer supplies holes to the depleted region, negative dope ions are left behind in the P-doped layer ('P' for positive charge-carrier ions). This creates a base negative charge on the anode. When a positive voltage is applied to anode of the diode from the circuit, more holes are able to be transferred to the depleted region, and this causes the diode to become conductive, allowing current to flow through the circuit. The terms anode and cathode should not be applied to a zener diode, since it allows flow in either direction, depending on the polarity of the applied potential (i.e. voltage).
[edit] Sacrificial anode
In cathodic protection, a metal anode that is more reactive to the corrosive environment of the system to be protected is electrically linked to the protected system, and partially corrodes or dissolves, which protects the metal of the system it is connected to. As an example, an iron or steel ship's hull may be protected by a zinc sacrificial anode, which will dissolve into the seawater and prevent the hull from being corroded. Sacrificial anodes are particularly needed for systems where a static charge is generated by the action of flowing liquids, such as pipelines and watercraft.
[edit] Related antonym
The opposite of an anode is a cathode. When the charge on the system is reversed, the electrodes switch functions, so anode becomes cathode, while cathode becomes anode, as long as the reversed charge is applied.
[edit] See also
- Cathode
- Anodising (a method of enhancing the surface properties of aluminium)
- Battery
- Diode
- Cathodic protection
- Electron tube
- Electrolysis
- Galvanic cell
- Redox (oxidation-reduction)
[edit] References
- ^ Ross, S, Faraday Consults the Scholars: The Origins of the Terms of Electrochemistry in Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London (1938-1996), Volume 16, Number 2 / 1961, Pages: 187 - 220, [1] consulted 2006-12-22
- ^ Faraday, Michael, Experimental Researches in Electricity. Seventh Series, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (1776-1886), Volume 124, 01 Jan 1834, Page 77, [2] consulted 2006-12-27 (in which Faraday introduces the words electrode, anode, cathode, anion, cation, electrolyte, electrolyze)
- ^ Faraday, Michael, Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1, 1849, reprint of series 1 to 14, freely accessible Gutenberg.org transcript [3] consulted 2007-01-11
