electrolytic cell

American  

noun

1. cell.

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electrolytic cell British  

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: cell.  any device in which electrolysis occurs

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electrolytic cell Scientific  

1. A device that contains two electrodes in contact with an electrolyte and that brings about a chemical reaction when connected to an outside source of electricity. The electrodes are made of metal or carbon, and when connected to direct current, one electrode becomes positively charged, and the other becomes negatively charged. This initiates the movement of ions in the electrolyte toward the electrodes: positive ions move toward the negative electrode and negative ions move toward the positive electrode. A chemical reaction then takes place at each electrode, with ions changing from positive to negative (or vice versa), or becoming neutralized. Electrolytic cells have many practical uses, including the recovery of pure metal from alloys, the plating of one metal with another, and the manufacture of chlorine and sodium hydroxide.

2. Compare voltaic cell

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Etymology

Origin of electrolytic cell

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

If they are placed in an electrolytic cell, dispersed particles will move toward the electrode that carries a charge opposite to their own charge.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

These catalysts typically sit on the cathode, one of two electrodes in an electrolytic cell containing water.

From Science Magazine • Sep. 10, 2015

The Navy is working on a magical electrolytic cell containing a sodium sulphate solution.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus it is evident that, considering the electrolytic cell as a whole, the passage of the current through it cannot conform to Ohm’s law.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 8 "Conduction, Electric" by Various

Corresponding laws were established for the heat evolved by the current passing in the electrolytic cell, and likewise for the heat developed in the cells of the battery itself.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882 by Various