Copper Plating & Electrolysis

Grade 8 Activity Plan

Copper Plating & Electrolysis

Topic: Electrolysis and electroplating Targeted group: Grade 8 Objectives: - To understand that hydrogen and oxygen in water are separated by electric current - To understand that like charges repel and opposite charges attract - To identify common uses for electroplating and electrolysis Materials:
Items Styrofoam balls Pipe Cleaner 250 mL beakers 9V batteries Alligator clips 8 cm copper wire Long Lighter Metal objects to plate (zinc, brass) Box of Salt Sandpaper Wooden Skewers Large clear tank/basin Small yogurt containers Large Test Tubes Graphite pencils Markers Masking Tape Flashlight AA Batteries Distilled Water Copper Sulphate Quantity (10 Students) 6 1 pack 6 10 20 12 pieces 1 10 1 2 pieces 12 6 12 12 10 1 pack 1 roll 1 6 2L Small bottle

Activities: Objective Student Activities

Instructor Activities
Lack of knowledge is darker than night Kenya Possible Interpretation: In this activity knowledge is crucial in order to complete the experiment. If the wires are misconnected, or the wrong metals used, a black coating will cover the one of the electrodes. If you have two gold bracelets that look exactly the same but priced differently, why is one so much cheaper than the other?

African Proverb (2 min.) Pre-test (3 min.)

Discuss

Respond

Give background on atoms and molecules. Demonstrate concepts using atom magnets. - Describe water is made up of 2 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom use Styrofoam balls to demonstrate have students form water molecules with Styrofoam balls and pipe cleaner. Explain that hydrogen has a slightly positive charge and oxygen has a slightly negative charge. - Describe electrolysis: use of electricity to separate molecules in liquid form into their component atoms - Describe what happens when an electric current is passed Background through water use diagram (25 min.) - Have students separate their water molecules and have two students dump their hydrogen into one clear vase and the oxygen into another make observations and relate to rate of formation of hydrogen gas and oxygen gas during electrolysis - Draw a diagram using copper sulphate solution instead of water and anode/cathode are X metal and copper coil - Work with the students to explain what happens based on knowledge of electrolysis of water - FYI: solution conc. = 0.286 mol/L 4.3 x 1022 copper ions in the 250 mL beaker Activities 1. Electrolysis of water activity: p. 157 (35 min.) 2. Copper plating activity: p. 156 Follow-up Re-assemble and discuss uses of electrolysis and electroplating. (5 min.) QUESTION: How do astronauts get oxygen in space? What are other common uses for electrolysis or electroplating? GAME: Play electrolysis (walking!) tag: use masking tape to label students with an H or an O and have them link arms to form water molecules. Draw a line across the floor between a positive and a negative electrode to represent the electric current. Both it and water must start on the same spot but it must count to 5 before it begins to walk. Water must move as a group until they cross the line and then separate and migrate to the proper electrode before it catches them. The first student who is caught becomes it. If no students are caught, then the last student to touch the wrong electrode becomes it.

Listen/ Participate

Participate Discuss

Post-test (10 min.)

Participate

Cultural Relevance

Francis Jeffers knows that scientific innovation comes from ones community. As founder and president of Visions of Science, Jeffers maintains close ties to the black community in an ongoing effort to promote science and technology to African and Caribbean communities. His organization has had a significant impact on the lives of countless young people, particularly through its annual forum, showing thousands of minority students that science is a viable career for them. Jeffers is president and co-founder of the African Relief
3

Committee in Canada, and he and his wife have recently acquired The International Black Inventions Museum, a mobile museum that teaches about the contributions Africans have made to civilization. Widely recognized as a leader in science and community involvement, Jeffers is a model for the young people he inspires and the colleagues whose accomplishments he helps celebrate.
Background Information: An atom consists of three basic components: electrons, protons, and neutrons. An electron has a negative charge; a proton has a positive charge; a neutron has no charge. An atom that has a charge is called an "ion." If an ion has too many electrons, it has a negative charge. If an ion has too many protons (not enough electrons) it has a positive charge. Positive and negative ions will combine to form neutral substances. When a solute is dissolved in a solvent, the compound is "broken" into its consistent atoms, which are almost always ions. These ions will easily be attracted to other ions if given the chance. Positively charged ions will be attracted to negatively charge ions.
(source: Math/Science Nucleus 1990, 2001)

Electroplating: In this lab, the students will experiment with the bonding behaviour of elements through electroplating (the art of producing metallic coatings by using electric currents.) Economically, metallic coatings are used to improve appearance, resist corrosion, or improve hardness. Examples include plating steel with copper, nickel, or chromium in the automotive industry; tin plated steel for food cans; and the manufacture of silver or gold plated jewellery. In this lab, the students will make a solution of copper sulphate in water. When water is added to the copper sulphate, the copper sulphate is broken into copper ions (Cu2+) and sulphate ions (SO4 2-). The copper ions roam around in the solution looking for a negatively charged with which to combine. This process is facilitated by passing an electric current through the solution. In this lab, the power source is a battery. As directed below, a copper strip is wired to the batterys positive terminal (the cathode), while a zinc or iron strip is attached to the negative terminal (the anode). When electricity flows through the circuit, the positive copper ions in solution bond to the negatively charged metal. In addition, the copper strip loses Cu2+ ions, which replace the Cu2+ ions lost from the solution. Given time to experiment, any substance can eventually be electroplated. Students will see that elements can "move" around with just a small amount of energy from the battery. The process used in electroplating is called electrodeposition. The cathode is the part to be plated and is connected to the negative terminal of the battery. The anode is connected to the positive terminal and is the metal to be plated on the cathode. Electrolysis: of water is an electrolytic process which breaks water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen gas. This is done with the use of an electric current, in this lab a 9V battery will be used The reaction looks as such: 2H2O (l) 2H2 (g) + O2 (g)

Two molecules of liquid water produce 4 molecules of hydrogen gas and 2 molecules of oxygen gas. Assuming equal temperature and pressure for both gases, the hydrogen gas has twice the volume of the oxygen. Pure water is not a good conductor of electricity so an electrolyte must be added to the solvent to close the circuit. The electrolyte, usually an acid, base or salt, dissociates into cations and anions that carry the current.

Activity One: Copper Plating Reinforce to students that chemical compounds are made of elements, which are composed of atoms. This lab will demonstrate how elements by becoming ions can be manipulated and moved from one area and deposited in another. Emphasize that it is not magic when the elements move around, but their response to the electrical current. Perform the electroplating experiment, following the directions below. Mix the solution. Use 250, 500, or 1000 ml glass beakers. For every 250 ml of water, use approximately 5 ml of copper sulphate. You can purchase copper sulphate at a chemical supply place. Note: After the experiment, you can safely dispose of the solution down the sink. However, the solution is reusable for a few years. If you keep it, store in a safe place, correctly marked as copper sulphate solution. Place the electroplating materials on a table. Make sure that the beakers and wires are clean. Cut two 12 cm sections of wire. Wrap a piece of copper around the end of one wire and a piece of another metal (Zn or Fe) around the end of the other wire. Use alligator clips on the other ends of both wires, so you can easily attach them to the battery. Using the alligator clip, connect the wire wrapped to the piece of copper to the POSITIVE battery terminal. Connect the other wire to the NEGATIVE battery terminal. You should now have one wire from the positive terminal connected to the copper electrode and one wire from the negative terminal connected to the iron or zinc electrode. Place the electrodes in the solution and let the experiment stand. You should begin to see little bubbles form on the copper electrode very soon. If you wire the electrodes backwards, a different reaction will occur; a black film will coat the electrode. If this happens, clean all the metal by wiping it with a tissue, and try the experiment again. Let the electrodes stay in solution for about 5 minutes. When removed, the anode should be coated with copper. Activity two: Electrolysis Make a small hole in the base of a yogurt container to hold the graphite pencil. Repeat with a second yogurt container Place a pencil through the hole in each container If necessary, cut a notch in the rims of the containers so that they can rest flat on the bottom of the bowl.

Attach an alligator clip to the tip of the pencil (the end inside the container). Attach a different alligator clip to the other pencil (the end inside the container). Place both containers in the tank, open end down, with the leads (wires of alligator clips) hanging outside. Completely dissolve salt into lukewarm water. Pour the salt water mixture carefully into the tank as to not disturb the containers Put each jar (or test tube) in the tank and fill with water. Gentle slot a pencil into each jar and stand it upright, keeping the jars neck underwater at all times Connect each alligator clip to the terminals on a 9V battery To test the gases, lift the jars from the water. Keep them upside down and away from you. Hold a long lighter under the negative terminal jar, and a long lighter under the positive terminal jar

Watch the reaction and coax students to explain what is happening. Explanation: Upon attaching the leads to the battery, gas will start to bubble up from the pencils in each jar and the water level will start to drop. Because water has two hydrogen atoms for every oxygen atom, twice as much hydrogen forms. Oxygen collecting in the top of the mar with the pencil attached to the batterys positive terminal. Hydrogen collecting in the top of the jar iwth the pencil attached to the batterys negative terminal The salt (or sodium carbonate) dissolves in the water, making a better electrolyte. Which means, electric current can pass through it easily.