The dissociation of an electrolyte by electrolytic conduction, which drives ions of constant polarity towards a particularly-charged electrode. For example, if a current is applied to a dilute solution of sulphuric acid, positively charged hydrogen ions move towards the cathode and negatively charged sulphate ions towards the anode; after a time the solutions adjacent to the electrodes have an abundance of ions of appropriate charge and the solution is said to be polarized.