British Sign Language Glossaries of Curriculum Terms

BSL Chemistry Glossary - electrode - Definition

This is the sign for ‘Electrode' and the sign for ‘Electrolyte'.

For electrolysis to occur you need electrodes and an electrolyte - without these things an electrical current cannot flow.

Take a look at this example. The two rods in the beaker are the electrodes which are good conductors of electricity - they could be carbon rods or made of metal but they need something else for electricity to flow between them. To complete the circuit we need a dissolved compound in which ions are free to move around and it's those ions that carry the current from one electrode to the other and enable the electricity to move around the circuit. If we use a solid it won't work; it has to be either in solution or molten - that's what makes the current flow.