explain the process of electroplating.( for minimum 4marks in class 8th standard)
Answers
Answer:
Electroplating
We have seen many times wherein artificial jewellery is shining when it is new and after sometime it begins to lose its shine. Same case with bicycle handle bars, nuts, bolts etc. This is because these metals are coated with another metal to give it their lustrous appearance and still keep it cost effective.
Experiment
Take distilled water in a beaker and dissolve some copper sulphate in it. Add a few drops of dilute sulphuric acid to it to make it more conducting.
Take 2 clean copper plates. (Clean it with sandpaper, then rinse them with water and dry them)
Connect the copper plates to the terminals of the battery.
Immerse them in the copper sulphate solution.
Allow the current to pass through the circuit for 15 minutes.
Remove the electrodes and observe them.
Observation
The plate connected to the positive terminal looks corroded.
The plate connected to the negative terminal has a thin layer of metal on its surface.
Analysis
The above changes are seen due to the Chemical Effects of Electric Current.
When electric current passes through the copper sulphate solution, the copper sulphate dissociates into copper and sulphate.
The free copper gets attracted towards the negative terminal and is deposited on the plate connected to the negative terminal.
The copper present in the copper plate which is connected to the positive terminal gets dissolved in the copper sulphate solution, thus replacing the loss of copper from the solution.
And this process continues.
This process is called Electroplating.