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How to Do Metal Plating

Electroplating is often referred to as plating or metal plating. It is the fine metal covering of one type of metal on top of another metal. Jewelry is often plated with a thin layer of gold or silver but the underlying metal could be any type of cheaper metal. Similarly, many car parts are electroplated with chrome. The thickness of the metal plating is controlled by the amount of time the object is suspended in the electroplating solution.

Things You'll Need

Pyrex glass bowl
Vinegar
Shiny new penny
Zinc anode available from boating stores
Epsom salts or table salt
Table sugar
1 1/2 volt flashlight battery
Length of copper wire
Electrical tape
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Disposable gloves

Instructions

Instructions
- 1
  
  A penny is easy to electroplate.
  
  Put on a pair of disposable gloves and pick up your shiny new penny. Clean it with an old toothbrush and some toothpaste. Then rinse it off with water. Since your hands have natural oils on them, it is necessary to wear gloves so that the penny can remain free of oils, dirt or fingerprints once it is cleaned.
- 2
  
  Vinegar is part of the electrolyte solution.
  
  Take a Pyrex glass bowl and half-fill it with acetic acid or vinegar. Drop the zinc anode into the vinegar and allow it to rest there for a few hours. This will cause some of the zinc in the anode to start dissolving.
- 3
  Add about 3 tablespoons of epsom salts to the vinegar. This makes the solution conductive. You can also use the same amount of table salt. Add about 4 tablespoons of sugar to the solution. The sugar is known as a "brightener" and its job is to interrupt the growth of crystals so that smaller crystals are produced, resulting in a better form of metal plating.
- 4
  Use electrical tape to attach one end of the piece of copper wire to the positive side of the flashlight battery and the other end of the wire to the zinc anode. Then do the same with the penny. Attach the other length of copper wire to the battery and to the penny. Make sure that the zinc anode and the penny do not touch each other.
- 5
  Place them back into the solution and watch. You should soon start noticing a change in the penny. It should start turning silver.

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