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Plating of copper on tin

 

Hi,

We have questions regarding the plating of copper onto tin. We are doing an experiment on electroplating for a competition and need to gain a better understanding of the process. We would like to know if anyone can break down the flow of electrons in simpler terms because it is very hard to understand. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thank You,

Sabrina and Carol [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
WHS - New Jersey

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Hello students, and good luck with the project. But simpler terms than what? You haven't mentioned what you've read that you are having difficulty with. Have you read our intro to this at www.finishing.com/faqs/plating.shtml?

The battery causes electrons to flow through the wiring from the positive pole (the anode / the metal you are putting into solution and plating out onto your parts) and to the negative pole (the cathode / the item you are trying to put some plating onto). Because the anode material is becoming positively charged , what with its electrons having been stripped away), it has been raised from valence zero (metallic form) to an "oxidized" positively charged form where it dissolves in the plating solution as a metal salt. It is attracted to the cathode because of the opposite charges, travels through solution as ions, and when it joins up with the electrons at the cathode it is "reduced" back to metal. Good luck!

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey