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Copper Plating a Quarter

Hello...I have been trying to copper plate a quarter with my students but I don't have the greatest of luck...I am using a copper sulphate [on eBay or Amazon] soln and then putting the negative hook up on the copper plate and then using copper wire on the quarter with the positive connected...the problem I get is not an even coat and also some areas don't coat..any ideas?

Thanx,

Garry Goddard
Fremont High School - Fremont, Nebraska

Well, Garry,

First, you have the polarity reversed; if you want to plate onto a quarter it has to be connected to the negative of the battery so as to attract the positively charged Ni⁺⁺ ions. Also, the plating will be in proportion to the current flow (Faraday's Law) and the current will follow the path of least resistance; so it is possible to get incomplete coverage if the quarter and the cathode are poorly positioned with respect to each other. The quarter does need to be very clean to plate properly. Finally, copper sulphate is fine for an old real silver quarter, but may to some extent immersion deposit (plate without current) onto today's quarters made of cupro-nickel alloy. Best of luck.

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

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