Help me please
it's urgent
Answers
What You Need:
1.5-volt D battery with battery holder (for power supply)
Two alligator clip leads or insulated wire
Beaker or glass (250-ml beaker is recommended or similar glass size)
Copper strip (pure copper)
Copper sulfate
Copper electrode (or coil of copper wire)
Brass key
Safety equipment
What You Do:
Prepare the key for copper-plating by cleaning it with a thin layer of toothpaste or soap and water. Dry it off on a paper towel.
Stir copper sulfate into some hot water in a beaker until no more will dissolve. Your solution should be dark blue. Let it cool.
Use one alligator clip to attach the copper electrode to the positive terminal of the battery (this is now the anode)and the other to attach the key to the negative terminal (now called the cathode).
Partially suspend the key in the solution by wrapping the wire lead loosely around a pencil and placing the pencil across the mouth of the beaker. The alligator clip should not touch the solution.
Place the copper strip / mass of copper into the solution, making sure it doesn't touch the key and the plating solution level is below the alligator clip. An electrical circuit has now formed with the positive electrodes & negative electrodes and an electrical current is flowing.
Leave the circuit running for 20-30 minutes, or until you are happy with the amount of copper on the key.
What Happened:
The copper sulfate solution is an electrolyte that conducts electricity from one electrode to the other, creating an electrical current.
When the current is flowing, oxidation (loss of electrons) happens at the copper anode, adding copper ions to the solution.
Those ions travel on the electric current to the cathode, where reduction (gain of electrons) happens, plating the copper ions onto the key.
There were already copper ions present in the copper sulfate solution before you started, but the oxidation reaction at the anode kept replacing them in the solution as they were plated with a thin layer onto the key, keeping the reaction going.
This project has many variables, including the cleanness and smoothness of the key, the strength of the copper sulfate solution, and the strength of the current.
If a black soot-like substance starts forming on the key, your solution is not strong enough for the current. Take the electrodes out and add more copper sulfate. When you put them back in, make sure the anode and cathode are as far apart as possible. Be sure to take notes for your science experiment to ensure you have great data collection.
There are lots of projects you can do with electroplating!
One fun idea is to use a flat piece of brass as your cathode and draw a design on it with an oil-based marker. The copper will not bond where the marker is.
After you're done plating it, you can use acetone (or nail-polish remover) to wipe off the marker, leaving a design of the brass showing through the copper. You can use a little metal polish to make the copper shiny, if you want.