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subaqua99
Penny Sorter Member
Canada
25 Posts |
 Posted - 03/02/2010 : 19:56:07
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Not sure if this is the right area to post- I'll leave it to administrators to move if this isn't the appropriate section of forum.
I found this article interesting and thought some others might find it educational-
Copper - Making Pure Copper
Extremely pure copper (greater than 99.95%), called electrolytic copper, can be made by electrolysis. The high purity is needed because most copper is used to make electrical equipment, and small amounts of impurity metals in copper can seriously reduce its ability to conduct electricity. Even 0.05% of arsenic impurity in copper, for example, will reduce its conductivity by 15%. Electric wires must therefore be made of very pure copper, especially if the electricity is to be carried for many miles through high-voltage transmission lines.
To purify copper electrolytically, the impure copper metal is made the anode (the positive electrode) in an electrolytic cell. A thin sheet of previously purified copper is used as the cathode (the negative electrode). The electrolyte (the current-carrying liquid in between the electrodes) is a solution of copper sulfate and sulfuric acid. When current is passed through the cell, positively charged copper ions (Cu2+) are pulled out of the anode into the liquid, and are attracted to the negative cathode, where they lose their positive charges and stick tightly as neutral atoms of pure copper metal. As the electrolysis goes on, the impure copper anode dissolves away and pure copper builds up as a thicker and thicker coating on the cathode. Positive ions of impurity metals such as iron, nickel, arsenic and zinc also leave the anode and go into the solution, but they remain in the liquid because the voltage is purposely kept too low to neutralize them at the cathode. Other impurities, such as platinum, silver and gold, are also released from the anode, but they are not soluble in the solution and simply fall to the bottom, where they are collected as a very valuable sludge. In fact, the silver and gold sludge is usually valuable enough to pay for the large amount of electricity that the electrolytic process uses.
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Shattered
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
523 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2010 : 20:27:23
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| This is very interesting. Thanks for posting. |
"I need metal in my life, just like an eagle needs to fly."
-Joseph DeMaio : Die For Metal |
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biglouddrunk
Penny Pincher Member
138 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2010 : 22:39:51
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| Very interesting. This brings up a thing I thought of before. So when copper is up to 5 times face and we all sell out what will happen to our copper? Although most brass is made from recycled metal some is still made from raw ore. So my guess is that they would take our pennies add a little more zinc and make brass rather than purify the pennies. |
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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2011 : 18:15:41
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quote:
Originally posted by biglouddrunk
Very interesting. This brings up a thing I thought of before. So when copper is up to 5 times face and we all sell out what will happen to our copper? Although most brass is made from recycled metal some is still made from raw ore. So my guess is that they would take our pennies add a little more zinc and make brass rather than purify the pennies.
The same with U.S. nickels. If they just add a little more nickel they would have a 70/30% alloy used in Marine applications. |
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Think positive. |
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Making Pure Copper
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