Salt Bridge

[505095793]

In a galvanic cell what exactly is a salt bridge made of and how does the salt bridge function?

[WilliamNguyen_4L]

its basically a tube filled with liquid or gel that has negative and positive ions like Na+ or Cl-. There are membranes at each end that only allow the ions to diffuse. When the galvanic cell is operating the solution on the side of the cathode will build up a negative charge as the metal ions will plate the cathode itself depriving the solution of those positive ions. On the anode side, the solution will build up a positive charge as the anode corrodes and releases positive ions into the solution. The salt bridge functions to balance the charges of each side so that the reaction can continue to occur by allocating negative ions and positive ions within the salt bridge to either side of the galvanic cell.