Talk:Electrolyte

Phosphate in biological systems

The water solution in the human body is at about pH 7.4. At this pH, phosphate mostly forms hydrogen phosphate HPO4-- and dihydrogen phosphate H2PO4-. PO4--- is negligible except at much higher pH. 2corner (talk) 11:34, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Physics

Electrolytes contain mobile charges, hence they act as electrical conductors. The lifetime of free electrons in electrolytes is in the range of nanoseconds, so unlike metallic conductors, the moving charges in electrolytes are not negatively , instead the of is both and negative. During an electric current in an electrolyte, populations of opposite charges move through each other in opposite directions. Note that since the human body is an electrolytic conductor, during an electric shock, no electrons flow through body .

Can an electrolyte be decomposed in alternating current electrolysis?--188.26.22.131 (talk) 15:42, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

Still needs attention?

I can't find much room for improvement. Does this page have to be listed for attention? JFW | [[User_talk:>T@lk]] 22:37, 26 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I revised this page today and removed the attention flag. I'm pretty sure the article is fine now. -- FirstPrinciples 02:49, Nov 7, 2004 (UTC)

There is some vandalism under the "

Strong/weak

I disagree with this sentence: "An electrolyte may be described as strong, having a relatively high concentration of ions; or weak, having a relatively low concentration of ions."

Strong in this context actually means that a high proportion of the dissolved solute will dissociate in solution to form ions. By contrast, a solution containing a high concentration should be described as, er, concentrated, while a solution with a low concentration is dilute. Axl 20:04, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

On re-reading the offending sentence, I suppose that the 'relative' qualification might mean 'relative to the total dissolved solute'. However the sentence is certainly ambiguous. Axl

I have changed the text, in accordance with my point. Axl 15:14, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

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Can you add the content about Debye-Huckel electrolyte theory? I think it is very important for electrolyte, thanks --ActiveIon 01:28, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

can you insert a "see also" at electrolite, wrong spelling but it might be useful to others like me who are slightly imperfect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.205.224.248 (talk) 00:15, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Electrolytes in nature, and other questions not answered

This article doesn't yet answer some basic questions I had about electrolytes...

If a person were stuck in a primitive environment and wanted to make a weak battery (say they have a copper pot and some iron rods, perhaps?), could they find and/or make a suitable electrolytic solution?

Are there common , how are they produced? In any event, could someone name some commonly occurring and/or commonly used electrolytes?

What is the history of electrolytes? How did they and/or batteries come into human consciousness?

Thanks!

You asked- "How did they and/or batteries come into human consciousness?" Anybody correct me if I'm wrong, but the classic story of how batteries came about is that Alexander Volta's friend told him that when he was dissecting a frog a little electric bolt jumped across his two scalpels he was working with (one of them was copper and one was zinc, I think). So once Volta found why it was doing this (the acids and juice in the frog acted as the electrolyte and the scalpels as conductors) he put together copper and zinc plates (to take the place of the scalpels) with lemon juice soaked cloth (replacing the frog juice) in between them thus creating a electrical pile or battery. (To sum it all up)--Gunnar Berlin 22:56, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Physiological Functions

I'd like to see bullets in this section. That would be for the college student on no sleep, cracked out on adderall and caffeine, hoping to finish his cheat sheet... Not that that's me, I'm just saying...67.176.41.21 07:43, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Other sources electrolytes

Are there any other good nutritional sources besides sports driks and special products? 66.251.24.136 05:19, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Potentially Conflicting Information: Sports Drinks Not for Diarrhea?

The Wikipedia entry for electolytes states: "Sports drinks are also not appropriate for replacing the fluid lost during diarrhea. The role of sports drinks is to inhibit electrolyte loss but are insufficient to restore imbalance once it occurs." (With a "Citation needed" tag appended at the end)

Later, the Wikipedia entry states the following, with a do-it-yourself energy drink concoction link at the end of it: "Electrolyte and sports drinks can be home-made by using the correct proportions of sugar, salt and water."

This links to a WebMD article, which states: "Rehydration drinks don't make diarrhea or vomiting go away faster, but they can prevent serious dehydration from developing."

This goes against what the Wikipedia entry stated. While I think that the WebMD article is useful, and should remain, I'm curious to know how these inconsistencies are resolved. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Blackbeardrrr (talk • contribs) 19:00, 18 March 2007 (UTC).

Na₂O,NH₃,SO₂,NO2₃

Na₂O,NH₃,SO₂,NO2₃ becomes NaOH, NH₄OH, H₂SO₃, HNO₃, HNO₂ in the water, so are Na₂O,NH₃,SO₂,NO2₃ all electrolytes in definition? User:Tikai 09:05, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Alternatives to Pre-Bottled Sport Drinks

There exist several brands of electrolyte tablets that one can add to a bottle of water to make an instant sport drink. The resulting liquid is sweetened enough to be palatable, usually using artificial sweetners. The brands that come to mind are: Camelbak's Elixir, Nuun, and Zym. I've tried both Elixir and Nuun, and find them both likeable enough to use on a daily basis. Cordelya 12:32, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Film Strip Tech

The film strip technology sounds a little bit like an advertisement to me: it relies on primary sources (studies done by the company promoting the film strip product). Any suggestions on what to do about that? Ivansanchez 17:54, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Possible death from too many electrolytes?

I know this may be silly to some, but does anyone remember the woman who died from drinking too much water in that contest they had for a Wii? I believe it was from too many electrolytes in her body, but please someone correct me if I am wrong. Venomscarnage (talk) 02:09, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

The official COD was water intoxication. Water apparently dilutes the blood (lowering the concentration of electrolytes) and that causes all sorts of problems.^source So I guess the problem was that she didn't have enough electolytes. Tragic story. ~Enviroboy^Talk_Contribs - 23:55, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Semi-Protected

Due to a large amount of vandalism, I requested that this page be semi-protected. Tnxman307 (talk) 16:02, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Tag

I'm adding a tag that this article cites no references or sources. I think it's prudent, since this article seems to have a lot of info. It would be nice to have credible third-party sources to back some of it up.72.92.16.129 (talk) 22:15, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Something happens

Under "Principles" it says:

For example, when table salt, NaCl, is placed in water, the following occurs:

NaCl(s) → Na+(aq) + Cl−(aq)

Could that be described in language as well? ~ R.T.G 20:55, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

I've taken a stab at it. Let me know what you think. TN‑X-Man 21:05, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Spot on Tnxman. I was afraid something more complex was happening. Although I understand the bit (same place) that says "the individual components dissociate due to the thermodynamic interactions between solvent and solute molecules, in a process called solvation", it is a bit over articlulate (and possibly incorrect in one word "solute"). There is also a mention of "competing dry electrolytes" under Solid Polymer (very bottom) that I don't see the reference. ~ R.T.G 09:40, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

I guess "competing" may mean commercial popularity but I think there is "competing" in physics. ~ R.T.G 09:45, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Well, I've eliminated that last bit, as it was a copy/paste from a website and may have been some left over advertising someone inserted. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 12:55, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Altered Quote

The quote in wikipedia read:

"It is unnecessary to replace losses of sodium, potassium and other electrolytes during exercise since it is unlikely that a significant depletion of the body's stores of these minerals will occur during normal training. However, in extreme exercising conditions over 5 or 6 hours (an Ironman or ultramarathon, for example) the consumption of a complex sports drink with electrolytes is recommended. " (Elizabeth Quinn, trainer and health professional)

However the quote at the cited source is actually:

"It's really not necessary to replace losses of sodium, potassium and other electrolytes during exercise since you're unlikely to deplete your body's stores of these minerals during normal training. If, however, you find yourself exercising in extreme conditions over 3 or 5 hours (a marathon, Ironman or ultramarathon, for example) you may likely want to add a complex sports drink with electrolytes. " —Preceding unsigned comment added by Orangevillain (talk • contribs) 19:06, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

References

confusion provided by external link

What proportion substitute?

At the above link it says substitute but one type has only potassium while the other has about 60/40. 71.100.5.245 (talk) 16:51, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Unreliable reference

The reference to runnersweb.com under the Sports Drinks section is written by Neal Henderson of the "Endurance Research Board." This appears to be original reseach, not published in an academic journal or otherwise peer-reviewed. Also, the "Endurance Research Board" is sponsored by "First Endurance," a for-profit manufacturer of sports drinks. 76.168.214.218 (talk) 00:18, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

In that case I shall remove it. 88.97.15.184 (talk) 12:27, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Electrolyte or electrolytic substance?

I think this page could do with clarifying whether electrolyte means the conducting substance, all the mobile ions within it, specific species of ion within it or all of the above. If there are several, it should state this and use each meaning clearly. The current definition - "any substance containing free ions that make the substance electrically conductive" - conflicts with the physiological definition of an electrolyte as a specific species (in that context you'd say sodium is an electrolyte but a bodily fluid containing it is an electrolytic conductor). I can't find an authoritative definition and I suspect the meaning is context-dependent; I'd usually use the IUPAC Gold Book definition, but they seem to consider the bare term too simple to warrant an entry. Zak (talk) 13:47, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Electrochemistry/electrolysis

From the Electrochemistry section: "instead, a chemical reaction occurs at the cathode consuming electrons from the anode, and another reaction occurs at the anode producing electrons to be taken up by the cathode."

This apparently seems contradictory to what that is on the electrolysis page (which is actually linked at the start), which says (in Process of electrolysis):

"Positively-charged ions (cations) move towards the electron-providing (negative) cathode, whereas negatively-charged ions (anions) move towards the positive anode."

The Electrochemistry section states that the cathode consumes electrons [?what does "from the anode" mean?] and the anode produces electrons. However, the electrolysis page states that the cathode provides the electrons, which would mean that the anode takes up the electrons.

Isn't there something wrong? 218.186.9.231 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 15:45, 4 March 2010 (UTC).

This link might help explain it: Electric current#Conventions.

– Mike Hayes (talk) 20:30, 27 October 2014 (UTC)

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Intro definition is not general enough to cover solid state electrolytes

Sorry to be critical without offering a suggestion.. anyone want to suggest something? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.207.104.34 (talk) 00:26, 20 June 2018 (UTC)

Material from lead better suited to electrolyte imbalance

In medicine, electrolyte replacement is needed when a person has prolonged vomiting or diarrhea, and as a response to strenuous athletic activity. Commercial electrolyte solutions are available, particularly for sick children (such as oral rehydration solution, Suero Oral, or Pedialyte) and athletes (sports drinks). Electrolyte monitoring is important in the treatment of anorexia and bulimia.

Some careful thought on the proper division between these two articles is at least justified. — MaxEnt 21:12, 3 March 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• NaCl electrolysis.png

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 13:22, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Uses too much jargon

The article uses too many scientific terms and concepts that are explained in the article, which make it very confusing to understand. Especially when i am just trying to find a simple explanation for what electrolytes are. Wikidude20842 (talk) 19:41, 13 June 2023 (UTC)

First sentence is unclear

The first sentence currently reads An electrolyte is a medium containing ions that are electrically conductive through the movement of those ions, but not conducting electrons. The part after the comma is dangling. Is it one of the following?

• "An electrolyte is a medium that contains ions that are electrically conductive through the movement of those ions, but that does not itself conduct eletrons."
• "An eletrolyte is a medium that contains ions that are electrically conductive through the movement of those ions but that do not themselves conduct eletricity."
• Something else.

Also, does the ions that are electrically conductive through the movement of those ions part mean "ions that, by virtue of their movement, are electrically conductive" or something else? And could "are electrically conductive" be written "conduct electricity"? Largoplazo (talk) 22:53, 27 July 2024 (UTC)

Your first suggestion is correct. An electric current can happen by a net movement of electrons only, or net movement of molecules that are charged, i.e. ions. Electric conductivity is the freedom for such movement.

"(...) ions that are electrically conductive (...), but [that are] not conducting electrons." The sentence is indeed a bit tricky to read, but valid. In an electrically conductive metal, the (positively charged) atom nuclei are more or less stuck in a pattern, but (negatively charged) electrons are free to move around. In an electrolyte, the electrons are primarily bound to molecules. But when anions(-) or cations(+) move on average in a certain direction, you have an electric current anyway.

English is not my native language, so I don't dare to rewrite it. But hopefully this clears things up. MatrixCL (talk) 10:29, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

I rewrote it anyway, as I'm confident enough that this suffices: "An electrolyte is a substance that conducts electricity through the movement of ions, but not through the movement of electrons." MatrixCL (talk) 10:44, 10 September 2024 (UTC)