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ChemistryJEE Main 2 Apr 2026, Shift 2·Q23·Numerical·Moderate

Electrochemistry · Fuel cell gibbs energy work

Consider the following two half-cell reactions along with the standard reduction potential given :

COX2+6 HX++6 eX−→CHX3OH+HX2O\ce{CO2 + 6H+ + 6e- -> CH3OH + H2O}    Ered∘=0.02E^\circ_\mathrm{red} = 0.02 V

12\dfrac{1}{2} OX2+2 HX++2 eX−→HX2O\ce{O2 + 2H+ + 2e- -> H2O}    Ered∘=1.23E^\circ_\mathrm{red} = 1.23 V

The fuel cell was set up using the above two reactions such that the cell operates under the standard condition of 1 bar pressure and 298 K temperature. The fuel cell works with 80% efficiency. If the work derived from the cell using 1 mol of CHX3OH\ce{CH3OH} is used to compress an ideal gas isothermally against a constant pressure of 1kPa, then the change in the volume of the gas, ∣ΔV∣\lvert\Delta V\rvert = m3^3. (Nearest integer)

Given : F=96500F = 96500 C mol−1^{-1}

We corrected a printing error in the original paper

Source printed “ΔV\Delta V =”; corrected to the intended magnitude “∣ΔV∣\lvert\Delta V\rvert =” (the gas is compressed, so ΔV=−560\Delta V = -560 m3^3; the key 560 is its magnitude).

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See the full 2 Apr 2026, Shift 2 paper