Solutions in beakers

[Mary Becerra 2D]

During the lecture on Monday, there was a graphic of two beakers with an electron flow filled with similar solution. What is this solution? I was assuming it is water but can it be any liquid?

[Naveed Zaman 1C]

Each beaker has a solution of respective ions for each electrode metal. So in a beaker with a zinc electrode, the solution it is in will contain Zn²⁺ ions. If it is a copper electrode, the solution contains copper ions. Of course you can't usually get pure metal ions on their own; they had to have come from some original compound. Because of this, there will be some anions in each solution, but they aren't really important and don't have a significant impact on the reaction.

[nathansalce 3e]

Yes, the solvent of these solutions is typically water while the solute is the metal ions being transferred back and forth via the discharge of the battery.