Extracting copper from it’s ore Starter: How could I extract the metal out of this ore?
Electrolysis Equipment and materials You must wear eye protection when carrying out this experiment. Equipment and materials 100 cm3 beaker of 1M aqueous copper (II) sulfate (harmful) standing in a 250 cm3 beaker for stability • DC power pack • ammeter • 3 connecting leads, two of which are fitted with crocodile clips • 2 copper foil electrodes labelled + and - (2 cm wide and long enough to curve over the rim of the beaker and reach the bottom) • paper towel. electrode copper sulfate solution
Method Set up the circuit shown in the diagram. The electrodes should be clamped to the rim of the beaker with crocodile clips and must not touch. Adjust the voltage of the power pack to give a current of about 0.5 A. Leave the experiment running for 10 minutes. Remove the electrodes from the beaker and lay them on a paper towel. One electrode should look pale and clean as if its surface has been removed. The other electrode should be coated with a layer of fresh copper. Note the appearance of each electrode. Deduce what happened to the copper atoms that disappeared from the + electrode