constant value when measured with different currents and by different
experimental methods.
_Measurement of the Resistance of Electrolytes._--There are two effects
of the passage of an electric current which prevent the possibility of
measuring electrolytic resistance by the ordinary methods with the
direct currents which are used in the case of metals. The products of
the chemical decomposition of the electrolyte appear at the electrodes
and set up the opposing electromotive force of polarization, and unequal
dilution of the solution may occur in the neighbourhood of the two
electrodes. The chemical and electrolytic aspects of these phenomena are
treated in the article ELECTROLYSIS, but from our present point of view
also it is evident that they are again of fundamental importance. The
polarization at the surface of the electrodes will set up an opposing
electromotive force, and the unequal dilution of the solution will turn
the electrolyte into a concentration cell and produce a subsidiary
electromotive force either in the same direction as that applied or in
the reverse according as the anode or the cathode solution becomes the
more dilute. Both effects thus involve internal electromotive forces,
and prevent the application of Ohm's law to the electrolytic cell as a
whole. But the existence of a definite measurable resistance as a
characteristic property of the system depends on the conformity of the
system to Ohm's law, and it is therefore necessary to eliminate both
these effects before attempting to measure the resistance.
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