CHEMESTRY IA2

Student experiment
YEAR 12, T1

Chemistry - Unit 3

Joshua Youl
[Email address]
Contents
Rationale...............................................................................................................................................1
Research question.................................................................................................................................2
Original experiment...............................................................................................................................2
Modifications to methodology..............................................................................................................2
Risk assessment.....................................................................................................................................2
Raw data................................................................................................................................................3
Processed data......................................................................................................................................4
Interpretation and analysis....................................................................................................................5
Sources of error.................................................................................................................................6
Evaluation..........................................................................................................................................6
Validity...............................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................6
Improvements and extensions..............................................................................................................6
Sources..................................................................................................................................................6
Appendix...............................................................................................................................................6

Rationale
Galvanic cells, created by Allesandro Volta are the simplest form of an electrical cell they work using
the process of redox reaction in which “the oxidation number of a molecule, atom, or ion change by
gaining or losing an electron.” (1) (ChemLibretexts, 2019) In the instance of galvanic cells two redox
reactions run simultaneously which “converts the energy released by a spontaneous chemical
reaction to electrical energy.” (1) (ChemLibretexts, 2019) Alternatively, the electrolytic cell which is a
reverse of a galvanic cell was discovered in the 1800 by William Nicholson and Anthony Carisle and is
used extensively, particularly today where it is used primarily in industrial and jewellery purposes
such as corrosion resistance and plating inexpensive metals with rarer metals such as gold.
Electrolysis is the process used in electrolytic cells and is a “process by which electric current is
passed through a substance to effect a chemical change. The chemical change is one in which the
substance loses or gains an electron (oxidation or reduction).” (2) (Encyclopaedia Britannica) This loss
and gain of electrons result in bonds being broken on the anode which receives electrons from the
power supply, the ions separate into solution from the anode and then attach to the negative
cathode. The number of electrons flowing through the electrodes within the electrolytic cell
determines the amount of bonds broken and by extension the number of ions dissociated into
solution that could then be plated onto the negatively charged electrode, so hypothetically by
increasing the voltage of the current the mass plated to the cathode should also increase.

This hypothesis coincides with Faraday’s first law of electrolysis that states: “the amount of chemical
change produced by current at an electrode-electrolyte boundary is proportional to the quantity
of electricity used, and (2) the amounts of chemical changes produced by the same quantity of
electricity in different substances are proportional to their equivalent weights.” (2) (Encyclopaedia
Britannica) Represented by the equation:
 m ∝ Q
Where M = mass

And Q = Coulombs

Since “One Volt is equivalent to one Joule per Coulomb” (Electric Potential Difference, n.d.) this
means that volts could at any time be calculated back into Coulomb’s and the relationship will be the
same as the conversion is constant, for this reason results will not require being calculated in
Coulombs.

This relevance of this research question is important because of the extensive use of electrolytic cells
in modern practises and by experimenting with voltage’s ability to increase mass plated to metals,
(an important variable that determines the final product,) the conclusion of this experiment will
explain the best conditions to run a metal plating procedure in.

Research question
Does increasing the voltage of an electrolytic cell of a 20c coin (“75% copper, 25% nickel”) and pure
copper strip, increase the plated mass of copper on the cathode (coin) after a reaction time of 5
minutes when increasing voltage at 2v intervals from 4v to 8v.

Original experiment
The original experiment is highly similar to the modified experiment in that it is the same electrolytic
cell with the same chemicals and concentrations. The only objectives of this experiment were to:

1. To construct an electrolytic cell.

2. To plate a metal object using the electrolytic cell.

The original experiment was a electrolysis experiment between a pure copper electrode and a silver
coin. Only one trial was conducted using a 1x5cm strip of pure copper and a 20c coin in a 100ml
solution of CuSO4 inside a 250ml beaker. Alligator clips were connected the negative cathode (coin)
and the positive anode (copper strip) to the power supply that was then run at 6v. Then after 5
minutes the reaction was stopped, and the condition of the coin was recorded as being copper
coloured.

The only purpose of this experiment found (Elearn Week 5 term 4 YR 11) was to construct and
understand the components and procedure for an electrolytic cell. No data was recorded and only
one trial was conducted.

Modifications to methodology
The original experiment has been modified to answer the research question and test whether
increasing the voltage increases plated mass. Multiple aspects of the experiment were altered in
order to collect relevant and precise data such as recording 3 trials for each voltage interval which
allows for a more accurate average to be calculated, this refinement also allows for uncertainty
calculations to be made and for outlier to be visible among other results.

This experiment has been extended by measuring the mass of plated metal at multiple different
voltages from 4v to 8v in 2v intervals. This will mean the data recorded will be able to produce an
answer to the research question as if there is a difference in mass plated between the different
voltages there is a relationship that can be analysed. Another extension was to measure the mass of
the coins before being plated and after, this change to methodology was chosen so that the mass
change of the coin could be recorded, and the amount of copper plated to the coin could be
calculated and then contrasted to the voltage to produce a relationship.

Risk assessment
*Find full risk assessment printout in appendix 1*

The risk assessment website has labelled the experiment as a medium risk level and has necessitated
the use of ppe including safety glasses, gloves and a lab coat. Risks associated with this experiment
include working with Copper (II) Sulphate which can cause serious eye irritation and nausea and
vomiting if ingested. This risk was avoided by wearing ppe glasses to avoid eye contact and gloves to
reduce the chance of chemicals entering the mouth by hand. Working with electricity is a high risk
that was managed by ensuring electrodes connected didn’t touch or arc. And when not in use the
power supply was switched off on the unit and then switched off on the wall outlet as to ensure no
one accidentally touched the live wires and was electrocuted. The last reasonable risk was working
with glassware that if broken could cause cuts if uncareful. This risk was managed by ensuring the
beakers were kept away from the edges of desks to avoid falling and breaking.

While doing the experiment no risks came to fruition as all risk management techniques were used.

Raw data
Raw data was collected using a scientific metric scale accurate to 2dp and recorded into the excel
spreadsheet *seen table 1*

Outliers are highlighted red and are excluded from all calculations.
Table 1 – Raw data, Mass plated after 5mins electrolytic cell reaction.

Processed data
0.14
f(x) = 0.02 x − 0.01
0.13 R² = 1

0.12
0.11
0.1
0.09
Plated plated on coin

0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Voltage

Figure 1 – Mass plated vs voltage w/ forwards backwards extended trendline and equation and R 2

For every 1-volt of charge running through the cell there was on average a plated mass of 0.01625g.

Table 2 – Formulas and example calculations

Formula Example calculation

Average (mean) = Sum of values Average (50g) = 0.23+0.25+0.22 = 0.2333
No. of values 3
Uncertainty = Max value – Min value Uncertainty (50g) = 0.25-0.22 =0.015
2 2
Percent uncertainty = Uncertainty x 100 Percent uncertainty (50g) = 0.015 x 100
Average =6.4285
0.23333
Standard deviation (excel) = Stdev(Data range) Standard deviation (excel) (50g) = Stdev(0.23,
0.25, 0.22) = 0.01527
Standard error (excel) = Standard deviation Standard error (excel) (50g) = 0.01527 =
Square root (No. of results) 0.008819 √3
Table 3 – Data table with uncertainty and percent uncertainty
Interpretation and analysis
Trends

In table 1 it is observed that as the voltage of the electrolytic cell increases so does the mass plated.
This is seen as the voltage increases from 4 to 6 to 8 there is a steady average increase in the mass
plated to the coins from 0.06 to 0.09 to 0.125, respectively.

Relationships

In figure 1 it can be observed that for every 2v increase from 0 to 14 the plated mass increases by
0.03 grams apart from 6v to 8v where the plated mass increases by 0.035 likely due to error as seen
in table 3 where unlike the 4v and 6v trials (which had 0 uncertainty) there was an uncertainty of
0.005 and a percent uncertainty of 4 which likely led to this variance from the relationship. As the
data is not proportional (doesn’t have a y-intercept) this means that the relationship is positive
linear.
 0.13

0.12
f(x) = 0.01 x + 0
R² = 1
0.11

0.1

0.09

0.08
Mass plated (grams)

0.07

0.06

0.05

0.04

0.03

0.02

0.01

0
3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Voltage

Figure 2 – Linearised graph if trial 2 8v wasn’t included in the trendline.

Calculated there is a gap of 0.0324 g for the y-axis between each 2v recordings according to the
linear equation so per 1v the grams should increase by 0.0162 (=0.0324/2). In the linearised graph
that excludes the erroneous second trial of 8v test in figure 2 it can be seen that for every 1v of
charge the mass plated was 0.015 grams. Because these values are so close, and the only uncertainty
is extremely low at 4% it can be inferred that if not for the human error during the recording of data.
A directly proportional relationship would have been recorded.

It can be inferred that there is a positive linear proportional relationship between voltage and the
mass plated on the coin. The variance can be blamed on the uncertainty observed in the 8v trials as
seen in table 3.

Sources of error
Overall, the data recorded was highly valuable as the uncertainty and percent uncertainty for most
of the trials were 0 meaning no error. This is of course after removing the outliers from the datasets.
These outliers are likely due to human error as chemicals such as the copper sulphate solution may
have been incorrectly measure which may result in a faster rate of reaction. Human error may have
also interfered with the validity of the experiment as copper electrodes may have been incorrectly
measured or cut out resulting in a higher surface area which would result in a faster reaction rate
that would vary the data and cause outliers and other variations.

Evaluation
Due to the consistency of the data until the 8v trials it can be confidently stated that there is a
directly proportional positive relationship between voltage and plated mass as this is displayed
before the 8v trials. Because this relationship (even with the uncertainty) closely matches Faraday’s
first law whereby the amount of electricity traveling through an electrolytic cell (V) is proportional to
the amount of metal plated it can be stated that if not for the uncertainty caused by human error,
the data recorded would perfectly reflect Faraday’s law.

This can be proven by the fact that if the 13g mass different for the 8v, trial 2 test was removed the
relationship would be directly proportional as the mass would increase by 0.015g per 1v and then fit
the proportional model of Faraday’s first law of electrolysis as seen in Figure 2.

Validity
Due to the relationship of the variables in the data coinciding the Faraday’s first law of electrolysis so
closely it can be stated that the data is very precise and accurate and reflects that there is in fact a
positive directly proportional relationship between voltage of an electrolytic cell and copper mass
plated to the coin. The highly accurate R 2 value of 0.998 in figure 1 suggests that the data is very
accurate and the data’s backed up representation of Faraday’s law suggests that the data is
accurate, precise and therefor valid.

Conclusion
Because of the relationships that have become apparent through the analysis of the data recorded
for this experiment it can be concluded that there is a positive directly proportional relationship
between

Improvements and extensions

Sources

(1) Galvanic Cells. (2019, September 19). Retrieved March 4, 2021, from
https://chem.libretexts.org/@go/page/48478

(2) Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2016, October 5). Faraday's laws of electrolysis.
Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/Faradays-laws-of-electrolysis

(3) Electric Potential Difference. (n.d.). The Physics Classroom. Retrieved March 15, 2021, from

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circuits/Lesson-1/Electric-Potential-

Difference#:~:text=One%20Volt%20is%20equivalent%20to,moved%20between%20those

%20two%20locations.
(4)
Appendix
Appendix 1 – risk assessment