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Question

If, we discharge the electrochemical cell rapidly, then :

The correct answer is

The cell will give out maximum entropy

The question contrasts a rapid discharge with a slow one, and the whole answer follows from the difference between reversible and irreversible operation.

A cell delivers its maximum electrical work only when discharged reversibly — infinitely slowly, against an opposing potential just short of the cell emf. In that limit the useful work equals the Gibbs free energy change, \(w_{elec} = \Delta G = -nFE\), and no entropy is generated internally.

Discharging rapidly is strongly irreversible. Large currents flow, and with them come several dissipative losses: ohmic (IR) drop through the electrolyte, activation overpotential at the electrode surfaces, and concentration polarisation as ions cannot diffuse fast enough to keep up. Each of these degrades free energy into heat.

The thermodynamic statement of this is that irreversible processes generate entropy: \(\Delta S_{universe} > 0\), and the faster and further from equilibrium the process, the more entropy is produced. So a rapid discharge produces the maximum entropy.

The other options are each the reverse of this. "Maximum enthalpy converted to useful work" is wrong twice over — the theoretical limit on useful work is \(\Delta G\), not \(\Delta H\), and rapid discharge falls short of even that. "Small amount of entropy generated" describes the slow, near-reversible case. And "maximum energy density" is wrong because the measured cell voltage sags under heavy load, so less energy is extracted before the cutoff voltage is reached — the familiar observation that a battery drained quickly delivers less total energy, and gets hot doing it.

Hence rapid discharge means the cell gives out maximum entropy.

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