Do You Really Understand the Electrochemical Nernst Equation?

摘要

If you ask undergraduate students of Chemistry "Do you understand the electrochemical Nernst equation [1]?", a high percentage of them will answer "Of course, we do! It is the equation that relates the activity of the species taking part in an electrochemical equilibrium to its electrode potential!" The next question: "So, would you be able to calculate how the electrode potential of the reaction A + H~++ e~-<->D changes with pH?" will also be answered by a high percentage of students with a "yes, we would."