Hi,How do I calculate the voltage required to plate an iron rod with copper using electrolysis? When I use E=Ered-Eoxid it just equals zero!Thanks!
Well, that's true, and it might be the answer you're looking for. Iron is a more active metal than copper, and if you put an iron rod in a solution containing copper ion, the copper will spontaneously plate out. But that would sort of mean that you don't need the electrolysis at all. And it wouldn't be quite the same, because as the copper plated out, the iron would be dissolving. Not the goal in electrolysis! Now, if you were trying to solve for the total charge required to plate out a certain mass of copper, or the time required to plate out a certain mass of copper using a certain current, or the mass of copper you could plate out using a certain current over a certain amount of time . . .
