Factors affecting mass of copper transferred in Electrolysis of aqueous copper sulphate

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Factors affecting mass of copper transferred in

Electrolysis of aqueous copper sulphate

Using copper electrodes

Different possible factors that affect the mass of copper transferred could be:

  • concentration of copper sulphate
  • time left in the solution
  • the temperature of the solution
  • the voltage
  • surface area of the electrode
  • distance between the electrodes
  • volume of copper sulphate
  • current

Electrochemistry is a branch of  that studies the reactions which take place at the interface of an electronic  (the  composed of a  or a , including ) and an ionic conductor (the ).

If a  is caused by an external , or if a voltage is caused by a chemical reaction, as in a , it is an electrochemical reaction. In general, electrochemistry deals with situations where an  and a  reaction is separated in space.

Electrolysis is the decomposition of certain types of substance using electricity. The types of substance that can be split are ionic substances. Ionic substances form when a metal reacts with a non-metal. They contain charged particles called . For example, aluminium oxide forms when aluminium reacts with oxygen. It contains positively-charged aluminium ions and negatively-charged oxide ions. For electrolysis to work, the ions must be free to move. Ions are free to move when an ionic substance is dissolved in water or is . For example, if electricity is passed through copper chloride solution, the copper chloride is broken down to form copper metal and chlorine gas.

Positively charged ions move to the negative . Metal ions and hydrogen ions are positively-charged, so metals or hydrogen gas are produced at the negative electrode.

Negatively-charged ions move to the positive electrode. Non-metal ions such as oxide ions and chloride ions are negatively-charged, so gases such as oxygen or chlorine are produced at the positive electrode.

Copper is a  in the  that has the symbol Cu and  29. Copper is a reddish-colored , with a high  and thermal conductivityCopper has its characteristic color because it reflects red and orange light and absorbs other frequencies in the visible spectrum, due to its Copper is insoluble in water (H2O) as well as isopropanol, or isopropyl alcohol.

There are two stable isotopes, 63Cu and 65Cu, along with a couple of dozen radioisotopes. The vast majority of radioisotopes have half lives on the order of minutes or less; the longest lived, 64Cu, has a half life of 12.7 hours, with two decay modes, leading to two separate products.

Copper is  and , and is used extensively, in products such as:

  • Copper .
  • Copper .
  • Doorknobs and other fixtures in houses.

Most copper  is mined or  as copper sulfides from large  in copper  deposits that contain 0.4 to 1.0 percent copper. Examples include:  in  and  in . The average abundance of copper found within crustal rocks is approximately 68000 parts per billion by mass, and 22000 parts per billion by atoms.

There are two stable copper oxides,  (CuO) and  (Cu2O). Copper oxides are used to make   copper oxide (YBa2Cu3O7-δ) or  which forms the basis of many .

        Faraday’s Law discovered in 1834 was that it was a physical law stating that the number of moles of a substance produced at an electrode  during electrolysis is directly proportional to the number of moles of electrons transferred at that electrode. The amount of electric charge carried by one mole of electrons (6.02 x 10²³ electrons) is called the faraday and is equal to 96500 oculombs. The number of faradays required to poduce one mole of substance at an electrode depends upon the way in which the substance is oxidized or reduced.

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        Copper(II) sulfate (CuSO4) is the most common  , made by the action of  on the  . The  form is a pale green or gray-white powder, while the hydrated form is bright blue. The electrolysis of copper sulphate solution is udeful because it can be used to purify copper. The purer the copper is, the better it is at conducting electricity so the better it is for electrical wires and connections

I have chosen to change the time and my aim in this investigation is to see whether as the time changes if there is a change in the mass ...

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