What is the Difference Between Metallic and Electrolytic Conduction

The key difference between metallic and electrolytic conduction is that metallic conduction involves the movement of electrons through a metal, whereas electrolytic conduction involves the movement of ions through a pure liquid or solution.

Metallic conduction can be described as the movement of electrons through metal with no changes in the metal and no movement of the metal atoms. Electrolytic conduction, on the other hand, can be described as the process of transferring energy in the form of an electric current.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Metallic Conduction
3. What is Electrolytic Conduction
4. Metallic vs Electrolytic Conduction  in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Metallic vs Electrolytic Conduction

What is Metallic Conduction?

Metallic conduction can be described as the movement of electrons through metal with no changes in the metal and no movement of the metal atoms. Common examples of metallic conductors include copper, silver, and tin. There is a high density of conduction electrons in metals. For example, aluminum metal has three valence electrons per metal atom in its partially filled outer shell.

Metallic conductors have charge carriers and electrons. Under the influence of an external electric field, metal atoms acquire some of the average drift velocity in a direction that is opposite of the field.

In most metals, there are no forbidden bands in the energy range of the most energetic electrons. Moreover, metals are usually good electrical conductors. In contrast, insulators have wide forbidden energy gaps that are crossed by only an electron with an energy of several electron volts. Therefore, we can identify that there is a high density of conduction electrons in metals. For example, there are three valence electrons in an aluminum atom when it is partially filled in its outer shell. These electrons can become conduction electrons in the aluminum metal.

What is Electrolytic Conduction?

Electrolytic conduction can be described as the process of transferring energy in the form of an electric current. Here, the method of conduction is electron movement. However, any electron in any system cannot contribute to this conduction method. Electrons have to be in a free state in order to move from one place to another. The inner shell electrons of atoms cannot move. Another requirement is the presence of an electric field that can cause the movement of free electrons.

Electrons that are able to undergo conduction are called “conduction electrons.” These electrons are not firmly attached to any atom or a molecule. These free electrons can jump from the orbital of an atom to an orbital of an adjacent atom. However, as a whole, these electrons are bound to the conductor. The movement of electrons starts with the application of an electric field. The electric field gives the electrons a direction to move.

What is the Difference Between Metallic and Electrolytic Conduction?

Metallic and electrolytic conduction are important processes. The key difference between metallic and electrolytic conduction is that metallic conduction involves the movement of the electrons through the metal, whereas electrolytic conduction involves the movement of ions through a pure liquid or solution. Moreover, metallic conduction decreases with the increasing temperature, whereas electrolytic conduction increases with the increasing temperature. In addition, metals such as aluminum, silver, or tin are examples of metallic conductors whereas acids, bases, and salts are examples of electrolytic conductors.

The below infographic presents the differences between metallic and electrolytic conduction in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Metallic vs Electrolytic Conduction

Metallic conduction is the movement of electrons through metal with no changes in the metal and no movement of the metal atoms. Electrolytic conduction, on the other hand, is the process of transferring energy in the form of an electric current. Therefore, the key difference between metallic and electrolytic conduction is that metallic conduction involves the movement of the electrons through the metal, whereas electrolytic conduction involves the movement of ions through a pure liquid or solution.

Reference:

1. “Metallic Conduction.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2. “Electrical Conduction.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily.
3. “Electrolytic Conductance Factors Affecting Conductance.” Byju’s.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Heat Conduction” by s4rs – OpenClipArt
2. “Conductivity (electrolytic) 2” By Karishma50 – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia