The process that you saw in Activity 14.7 is used for the purification of copper. A thin plate of pure copper and a thick rod of impure copper are used as electrodes. Copper from the impure rod is sought to be transferred to the thin copper plate. Which electrode should be attached to the positive terminal of the battery and why?

Soln:

The thick rod of the impure copper plate is to be attached to the positive terminal of the battery because when the electric current is passed through the copper sulphate solution, it gets dissociated into copper and sulphate. The free copper, being positively charged, gets drawn to the negative terminal of the battery and gets deposited on it. On the other hand, the loss of copper from the solution is regained from the impure copper rod, which is attached to the positive terminal of the battery.