Electrons flow from the anode to the cathode. Therefore, the anode is negative and the cathode is positive. Anions and cations move through a porous barrier or salt bridge. Oxidation occurs at the anode. At the cathode electrons are reactants.
Reduction occurs at the cathode.
The flow of electrons from anode to cathode is spontaneous. Electrons flow from anode to cathode because the cathode has a lower electrical potential energy than the anode. This is known as the cell voltage . The SHE is assigned a standard reduction potential of zero. The larger the difference between E red values, the larger the E cell .