• Pixel-art sticker of Platel, personifying Faraday Electrolysis, with the caption “More Charge, More Metal.”

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Platel

Faraday Electrolysis Physics

\[m = \frac{Q M}{z F}\]
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Meet Platel, a spoon who gets a new coat of copper whenever current flows. Faraday's law of electrolysis says deposited metal grows with charge passed: 2 A for one hour plates about 2.4 g of copper. Double the time, double the copper. Pixel-art kiss-cut sticker in 2, 3, 4 and 6 inches; equation, symbols and sources in the physics panel below.

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Flat $6 shipping worldwideMade to order, ships in 2–5 business days

Details

Size3″ × 3″

3″ × 3″ kiss-cut sticker.

Shipping

Flat $6 shipping on every order, worldwide, whatever's in it.

Delivery times & where we ship

Returns & replacements21 days

Every item is printed to order, so we can’t accept returns or exchanges for change of mind, or if you ordered the wrong size or colour.

Print defect, misprint, damage or the wrong item? We’ll send a free replacement, or a refund if you prefer. Report it within 21 days of delivery with a photo; no need to send it back.

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The physics

Meet Platel, a spoon who gets a new coat of copper every time the current flows.

In electroplating, the object to be coated is connected to the negative side of a power supply and dipped in a solution of metal ions. Each copper ion, Cu²⁺, needs two electrons to become a copper atom stuck to the spoon. So the amount of metal deposited depends directly on how much charge has flowed.

Faraday's law of electrolysis gives the mass as m = QM/(zF). F ≈ 96,485 C/mol is the charge on a mole of electrons. A current of 2 A for one hour carries Q = 7,200 C. For copper, M = 63.55 g/mol and z = 2, so m ≈ 2.4 g.

Double the current or the time and twice as much copper builds up. A metal like silver, with z = 1, gains twice as many moles for the same charge.

The same idea is used to refine copper, make aluminium and gold-plate electrical contacts.

Equations

\[m = \frac{Q M}{z F}\]
SymbolMeaningUnit
\(m\) mass of metal deposited \(\mathrm{g}\)
\(Q\) total charge passed \(\mathrm{C}\)
\(M\) molar mass of the metal \(\mathrm{g/mol}\)
\(z\) number of electrons per ion \(\mathrm{dimensionless}\)
\(F\) Faraday constant \(\mathrm{C/mol}\)

Sources

  1. OpenStax Chemistry 2e — Electrolysis
  2. NIST CODATA — Faraday constant

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