Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

TERM II
NAME: REF: 2021-22/ SCI/STD 8/ HO

CLASS: VIII SUBJECT: SCIENCE

DATE: 29/01/22 TOPIC: CHEMICAL EFFECTS OF

ELECTRIC CURRENT

Electricity can be defined as a kind of energy formed by moving charges. Metals are considered
a good conductor of electricity due to the flow of electric charges in them.

Electric Current - It can be defined as the flow of electrons. An electric current can produce
chemical, heating and magnetic effects.

Electric current cannot flow on the conductor on its own. An electric circuit, which is a closed-
loop path made up of electric components like wire, battery, switch, bulb etc. is needed for
current to flow in a wire or conductor.

When the path of the circuit is closed, the current flows through it, but when there is a break in
the path (switch is open) then, the circuit is open and, is not conducting.

Open Circuit

Closed Circuit

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Conductors and Insulators

Based on the conductivity, substances are divided into two

1. Conductors –

 Substances that allows electric current to pass through them are called conductors.
 For example – Metals like gold, silver and copper etc are some examples of good
conductors.

2. Insulators –

 Substances that do not allow an electric current to pass through them are called
insulators.
 An insulator is a bad conductor.
 For example – rubber, wood, plastic, glass etc. are bad conductors of electricity.

Can liquids conduct electricity?

Not all liquids can conduct electricity. However, some of them can be regarded as good
conductors of electricity while others as poor conductors of electricity.

Water containing salts and minerals dissolved in it always conduct electricity.

Distilled water which does not contain any salts or organic solvent cannot conduct electricity.

Any solution of acids, bases and salts can conduct electricity.

How do liquids conduct electricity?

 Different substances when mixed in water and electricity is passed through them can break
apart and form positive and negative particles or ions in the water.
 These ions can pass the electric current through them.
 Liquids which conduct electricity are called electrolytes
 The more is the number of ions in a liquid the better conductor it is of electricity.
 Strong electrolyte is a good conductor of electricity because it contains more number of ions.
Example – Solution of NaCl , acidified water, KOH, NaOH , HCl and CuSO4 are strong
electrolytes.
 A weak electrolytes conducts electricity to a lesser extent as it forms lesser number of ions.
Example – Vinegar, lemon juice, tap water, rain water
 However, many compounds do not form any ions on mixing them with water and therefore
they are poor conductors of electricity such as sugar water, oil and alcohol.
 Liquids which do not conduct electric current are called Non-electrolyte. Example - Glucose
Ethanol Distilled water are Non-electrolyte.

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How conductivity of liquids can be tested?

 The conductivity of a liquid can be tested by the tester. Testers are used to test whether a
particular material allows the electric current to pass through it or not.
 Firstly take a liquid like lemon juice in a container.
 When an electric current passes through a conducting liquid, it gets decomposed into ions.
 It is a good conductor of electricity as it contains citrus acid having H + ions which are
responsible for conduction.
 If the electric bulb glows in this arrangement this means our liquid is a good conductor of
electricity.
 The more ions in liquids lead to a better conductor of electricity.

Set up to detect if a liquid can conduct electricity

LED bulbs are more suitable for testing the electrical conductivity of liquids
 The electric current often causes heating effect due to which the filament of the bulb gets
heated up and glows.
 However, some liquids are capable of conducting electricity but they are weak conductors of
electricity. Hence current passes through them but it is not that strong enough to heat up the
filament. As a result, the filament would not light up in the case of such liquids.
 However, the LED bulbs can detect the flow of even a small amount of electric current as
well. Hence, LED bulbs are suitable for testing the electrical conductivity of liquids.
Electrolysis -

The effect in which components of a compound get split due to passing an electric current
through it is called electrolysis. It requires –

Electrode
An electrode is a conductor of electricity that can carry electric current into non-metals and other
poor conductors of electricity.

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Electrolyte
A solution that breaks into its ions on passing electricity through it is called an electrolyte.
Electrolytes are used in the process of electroplating.

Anode and Cathode

The positively charged electrode is called anode and the negatively charged electrode is called
cathode.

Anions and Cations

An anion is a negatively charged ion and a cation is a positively charged ion.

Chemical effects of electric current

When an electric current passes through solution it ionizes and breaks down into ions. This is
because of chemical reactions that take place when an electric current passes through a
solution. Depending on the nature of the solution and the electrodes used, the following effects
can be observed in the solution:
1. Metallic deposits on the electrodes
2. Change in the colour of the solution
3. A release of gas or production of bubbles in the solution

Applications of chemical effects of electric current

1. Electroplating
 Electroplating is a process in which layer of metal is deposited on another metal with the help
of electricity.
 Electroplating is used in many industries for depositing a layer of metal with desired
characteristics on another metal.

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 Different metals used for electroplating are Nickel, Copper, Gold, Silver, Tin, Brass, Zinc,
Chromium and Platinum.
Process of electroplating
 In order to conduct electroplating right electrodes and electrolytes must be chosen so that
metal can deposit over a material.
 For instance, if we want to deposit copper on a material we need an electrolyte that contains
copper in it. Similarly, if we need gold on a material we need an electrolyte that contains gold
in it.
 Also, we should make sure that the electrode that we are choosing is completely clean.
 The electrodes used are made up of different materials. One of the electrodes is of the same
metal of which the electrolyte solution is. The second electrode needs to be the material on
which we want to coat another metal.
 For instance, in case we want to plate copper upon brass, one electrode should be of Copper
and the other electrode should be of Brass and the electrolyte solution should be any salt
which contains copper in it, for example, copper sulphate solution. Consider the diagram
given below that describes the process of electroplating of copper.

Electroplating of copper on brass

 Out of these two electrodes the copper electrode acts as the anode (positive electrode) and
brass electrode acts as the cathode (negative electrode).
 When electricity is passed through the solution, the copper sulphate breaks down into its ions.
 The copper ions (they have a positive charge) get attracted by the brass electrode while the
sulphur ions being negatively charged move towards the copper electrode.
 As a result, copper starts depositing on the brass electrode.
 The process of electroplating takes some time to complete.

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 The amount of time that it will take depends upon the strength of the current that is being
passed through the circuit and also upon the concentration of the electrolyte.
 As these two are increased the speed of the electroplating process also increases.

Applications of electroplating

Electroplated Objects

 Medical equipment is made up of nickel which is

harmful to the human body hence to avoid it from coming in contact with our body a coating of
platinum or gold is applied on the surface of nickel.
 Many kitchen equipment, bath taps, parts of cars etc. are covered with chromium coating.
Chromium is an expensive metal hence the objects are created with the cheaper metal and
chromium coating is provided. Thus, to bring a shining over the objects and prevent them
from corrosion chromium coating is used.
 Jewellery makers often make ornaments of less expensive metals and provide a coating of
gold or silver upon them.
 The tin cans that are used to store food are actually made up of iron and have a coating of
tin on them. Iron can easily react with food and spoil it, however, tin prevents the food from
getting reacted with iron and therefore helps in preventing it from getting spoiled easily.
 Bridges and various parts of automobiles are made up of iron because it provides
strength. However in order to prevent iron from getting rusted a coating of zinc is provided
over it. This method is also called galvanization of iron.

2. Purification of metals
 The method of electrolysis is also used to purify a metal by separating it from the impurities.
 The impure metal is used as an anode which first dissolves in the electrolyte solution and
then deposits on the cathode in the pure form.
 The impurities of the metal remain in the electrolyte solution only. Metals like aluminium, zinc
and copper are purified in this way.

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 Purification of Copper using Electroplating

3. Decomposition of compounds
The electrolysis method is also used to decompose a compound into its constituents. For
example, water can be decomposed using the process of electrolysis to obtain hydrogen and
oxygen.

Decomposing water to separate hydrogen and oxygen

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