Salt Bridge

[Omar Selim 1D]

Hi everyone,
My question refers to salt bridges and what they provide to each part of the diagram. I was confused on how they play a role in balancing charges? Do they provide electrons to one side or ions? Also, why don't they dissociate completely dissociate in the solutions they're in?

[Jason Wu 1E]

Salt Bridges are essentially needed to create a complete circuit for electrons to flow and create a complete circuit so that E can be maximized. Usually, a salt bridge consists of a high concentration of easily dissolvable ions like NaNO3 to create Na+ and NO3-. Na+ will then flow to the Cathode where it will replenish the positive ions lost by Reduction. NO3- will be added to the anode in order to balance out the newly formed positive ions as a part of oxidation.

[Connie Chen 1E]

Salt bridges do not provide electrons, they maintain charge balance by transferring ions so that the electrical circuit is completed and the reaction will not stop due to charge buildup. The ions are typically chosen so that they do not affect the reaction. Usually, the cation goes toward the cathode and the anion goes toward the anode.

[Ryan Yoon 1L]

Salt Bridges serve as a means to keep the overall charges in each solution neutral via ions that do not affect the reaction. By keeping it neutral, the reaction continues to proceed.

[Sanjana Borle 2K]

If there was no salt bridge, the reaction would stop due to overly high concentration of negative or positive ions in the anode/cathode. By balancing out these charges with the anion or cation, the salt bridge helps the reaction to proceed.