Science Investigation Report - Aim To investigate how the voltage of the electric current would affect the rate at which a metal is electroplated.

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SSIS GCSE Programme

Science Investigation Report

Investigating Electroplating

Name: Kimberly Hoong Yearn Yi

Class: S4 Ruby

Aim

To investigate how the voltage of the electric current would affect the rate at which a metal is electroplated.

Hypothesis

If the voltage of the current supplied for electroplating is increased, then the mass of the copper metal deposited on the paper clip would also increase.

In electroplating, the anode is the copper metal piece and the cathode is the paper clip. The electrons travel from the negative terminal to the positive terminal, hence allowing the paper clip in the negative terminal to be electroplated. When plating the paper clip with copper, the copper metal piece undergoes oxidation while the cathode undergoes reduction, where:

Anode (Copper Metal Piece): Cu(s) --> Cu2+(aq) + 2e-

Cathode (Paper Clip): Cu2+(aq) + 2e- -->Cu(s)

This happens through the flow of electrons in the circuit. When time taken for electroplating to occur is kept constant, the rate of electroplating would depend on the voltage of the electric current. From this formula:

Q = It

(Charge = Current x Time)

If the time remains constant,