Name: Vibas, Rose Anne H.

Instructor: Ma’am Jay Anne Aleño

Section: 2-21CE Date Performed: March 10, 2017
Group No.: 8 Date Submitted: March 24, 2017

EXPERIMENT 2: ELECTROCHEMISTRY
FRUIT BATTERY AND ELECTROPLATING

INTRODUCTION

The involvement of the production of electricity through spontaneous redox reaction is

called electrochemical changes and the study of these is called electrochemistry. The process of
using electricity to make nonspontaneous redox reactions is the electrolysis. To produce useful
electrical energy, the two half-reactions involved in the net reaction must be made to occur in
separate containers or compartments called half-cells. These two half-cells connected by an
external circuit and a salt bridge are called a galvanic cell. Oxidation takes place at the negative
electrode called anode while reduction takes place in the positive electrode called cathode. The
magnitude of the ability of a galvanic cell to push electron through the external circuit is called
the potential, E. Using electrolysis, coating the metal of one electrode with the other metal of the
other is called electroplating.

This experiment was designed to introduce some simple procedure in constructing a

galvanic cell and display electroplating. To construct a galvanic cell, to determine the potential
of a galvanic cell, to display the electroplating using electrolysis in which the electrodes play
bigger role than just constructing the current, and to use electricity to coat the metal of one
electrode with the metal of the other were the objectives of the experiment.
METHODOLOGY

Materials and Apparatus

Digital Multimeter Beaker

Lemon Copper sulfate

Orange Alligator clips

Copper strip (1 cm x 3 cm) Fine sandpaper

Zinc strip (1 cm x 3 cm) 1.5 V battery

Coil of copper wire Pencil

Brass key

Procedure

In the part A of the experiment, the copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) strips were polished with
sandpaper. The zinc (Zn) strip was pushed into the lemon. 1.5 cm of the Zinc (Zn) strip was left
sticking out. The copper (Cu) strip was pushed into the lemon about 1 cm away from the zinc
(Zn) strip. 1.5 cm of the copper (Cu) strip was left sticking out. Both metal strips were touched at
the same time and observed what happened. The voltage of the lemon battery was measured by
the use of voltmeter. The set-up was repeated using orange as battery.

In the part B of the experiment, the key was prepared for copper-plating by cleaning it
with toothpaste or soap and water. The key was dried by a paper towel. Copper sulfate was
stirred into some hot water in a beaker until no more will dissolve. The solution was left to cool.
One alligator clip was used to attach the copper electrode or copper wires to the positive terminal
of the battery. The key was partially suspended in the solution by wrapping the wire lead loosely
around a pencil and placing the pencil across the mouth of the beaker. The alligator clip should
also not touch the solution. The copper strip was placed into the solution, making sure it didn’t
touch the key and the solution level was below the alligator clip. An electrical circuit was formed
and current was flowing. The circuit was left running for 20 to 30 minutes. The changes on the
brass key were observed.
Photo documentation:

Fig. 1. Set up in Experiment 2 Part A, using Fig. 2. Set up in Experiment 2 Part A, using
lemon as a fruit battery. orange as a fruit battery.

Fig. 3. Set up in experiment 2 Part B, Fig. 4. Initial appearance of Brass Key

Electroplating of Brass Key

Fig. 5. Final appearance of Brass Key

RESULTS

Part A. Fruit Battery

Lemon Orange

1 0.77 V 0.70 V

2 0.76 V 0.69 V

3 0.72 V 0.68 V
Table 1. Record of the voltages of the lemon and orange battery in three (3) trials.

Observations:

It can be observed that the voltages acquired from the lemon battery were higher than that
of the orange battery. The highest voltage measured by the voltmeter in the lemon fruit battery
among the three trials was 0.77V while a highest voltage of 0.70V was measured in the orange
fruit battery. There was light sensation felt when the metal strips were touched.

Part B. Electroplating of Brass Key

Observations:

There was a change of color seen on the brass key after 30 minutes of soaking it with a
copper in a mixture of copper sulfate and water. From its yellowish color, it changed into a
reddish brown color which represents the color of the copper. It can also be observed that there
was a gain of mass in the brass key with an initial mass of 7.49g and a final mass of 7.52g.
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

In the experiment for making fruit batteries, lemon and orange were used as the acidic
electrolyte and copper and zinc metals were used as the electrodes. The lemon and orange
provided a liquid path that enabled the conduction of electricity. It was evident from its
connection to voltmeter showing fluctuation when read. What provided the electricity, however,
was the difference in electrochemical potential of copper and zinc which the voltmeter measured.
Zinc and copper strips were inserted in both fruits, and when the metal strips were touched, there
was a light sensation felt. This sensation was caused by the flow of electricity. As the metals
were used as electrodes, the zinc metal strip served as the anode while as the copper strip served
as the cathode. The negatively charged ions or the electrons of the citrus fruits went to zinc
leaving all the positively charged ions or the protons to the fruits. Among the observations, the
voltages acquired from the lemon battery were higher than that of the orange battery with the
highest acquired voltage of the lemon battery, 0.77V and the highest acquired voltage of the
lemon battery, 0.70V. This gives the notion that lemon has stronger electricity than orange; it is
more acidic, it stores more chemical energy, and thus, it has more electrical energy. The acquired
voltages of the lemon in the first, second, and third trial were 0.77V, 0.76V, and 0.72V,
respectively, while the acquired voltages of the orange were 0.70V, 0.69V, and 0.68V,
respectively. The equation for the anode reaction is: Zn(s) = Zn2+ + 2e- . The equation for the
cathode reaction is: Cu2+ (aq) + 2e− = Cu(s).

The second part of the experiment was focused on the electroplating of brass key. The
change of colour, from yellowish to reddish brown, seen on the brass key was caused by the
coating of the decomposed copper. This was due to the process called electrolysis. In this
experiment, the copper sulfate solution served as the electrolyte while as the brass key server as
the cathode, and the copper metal served as the anode. The copper ions (which are positively
charged) were attached to the negatively charged electrode, the brass key. This explained the
gain of mass of the brass key with the initial mass of 7.49g and a final mass of 7.52g. Since the
brass key was coated with copper, aside from its change in color, it increased by small amount of
mass. It can be computed that the mass of the copper ions attached to the brass key was 0.03g.
Questions

Part A. Fruit Battery

1. Describe the sensation when you touch the metal strips.

A mild shock was felt when touching both the zinc and copper strip.
2. Which is more active metal? Explain.
Zinc. It is capable of losing electrons and more reactive than copper metal and so
it can force the copper metal ions to accept electrons and become metal atoms.
The zinc displaces the copper ions from solution.
3. Which metal is the anode?
Zinc. It lost electrons.
4. Which metal is the cathode?
Copper. It gained electrons.
5. Write the equation for the anode and cathode reaction.
Cathode reaction: Cu2+ (aq) + 2e− = Cu(s) (reduction)
Anode reaction: Zn(s) = Zn2+ (aq) + 2e− (oxidation)
Cell reaction: Zn(s) + Cu2+ (aq) = Zn2+ (aq) + Cu(s)

Part B. Electroplating of Brass Key

1. Which is the electrolyte? Explain.

The copper sulfate solution. It allowed the electric current to pass through itself.
2. Explain the oxidation and reduction reaction that takes place in the set-up.
Reduction took place in the brass key, the cathode, while oxidation in the copper
strip, the anode. Direct current is supplied to the copper strip, oxidizing its metal
atoms and dissolving them in the electrolyte solution. The dissolved metal atoms
plated the brass key.
3. What does it mean when a black soot-like substance starts forming on the key?
Explain your answer.
It means that the brass key was coated by the decomposed copper. The
occurrence was due to electrolysis. There was a flow of electric current in the solution
resulting in chemical decomposition of the copper into the brass key.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The citrus fruits lemon and orange were used as galvanic cells where electrical energy
can be obtained and spontaneous redox reactions took place. They had shown their ability to
become batteries. The anode is the zinc strip, while the cathode is the copper strip. The electrons
went to the zinc strip, then all the protons were left in the fruits. The potential of the lemon is
greater than the orange. Lemon stores more chemical energy. It can be inferred that it produces
more electrical energy. In experiment on electroplating, the brass key was coated by the copper.
The purpose of electroplating is to protect the metal it is covering. The amount of chemical
change during electrolysis is directly proportional to the amount of electrical energy that is
passed through an electrolysis cell. This idea follows the law of Michael Faraday on electrolysis.
The electroplating that happened was caused by electrolysis where electric current is used, so the
copper chemically decomposes into the brass key in order to coat and protect it.

It is recommended that the zinc and copper strips were polished completely before
inserting into lemon and orange. The height of the metals sticking out when inserted should be
about 1.5cm, and the distance between the two strips must be about 1cm. The voltmeter must
have a positive reading for the data to be correct. Before proceeding to electroplating, it must be
ensured that the brass key was prepared clean by cleaning it with toothpaste or soap and water
and dried properly. Also, it must be ensured that the copper sulfate specimen is mixed properly
with hot water until no more can dissolve. The solution must appear to be dark blue. The copper
must be attached to the positive terminal of the battery. It should be remembered that the
alligator clip must not touch the solution, and copper must not touch the brass key. This will
result in success in electroplating.

REFERENCES

 Chang, R. (2010). Chemistry: 10th Edition. New York, NY: Mc-Graw Hill
 Brady, Jespersen, & Hislop (2012). Chemistry: Sixth Edition. Asia: John Wiley and Sons
 I. (n.d.). 10.2 - Reactivity. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from
http://ibchem.com/IB/ibnotes/full/red_htm/10.2.html
 Fruit Battery Experiment. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2017, from
https://explorable.com/fruit-battery-experiment
 Lemon Battery Project. (2017, February 10). Retrieved March 23, 2017, from http://how-
things-work-science-projects.com/lemon-battery-project/