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Electroplating

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Yuriman

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2002
Location
The OCFORUMS
My science teacher has everything needed to electroplate zinc onto another metal. He showed us a silver colored penny, and then showed us what happens if you heat it up a lot. Well, the penny turned a beautiful golden color, because the zync melted with the copper.

My question: How would this affect performance? And: How hot would I have to heat it to melt the zync onto the copper? He didnt tell us, and im afraid if I did this to a heatsink it would melt the solder holding the fins to the base. The example would be the Sk-7 I picked up for my suitcase pc.
 
Well, you would not only melt the solder, but you would melt the whole heatsink i think. Because if the zinc melts with the copper, and the whole hs is copper, then you would have one heavy paper weight.
 
Wait, I can understand melting zinc pennies into copper, but why would you want to melt a copper heatsink into something else? Also the whole thing would probably have to melt so you would end up with a nice stone or flat sheet of some metal.

Can you just heat up pennies to a certain point and they turn to copper? If so, it would be cheaper to just melt your own pennies into copper to make a waterblock :D you would need to make a mold somehow though.
 
You can melt a penny with a blowtorch because it is all zinc with a copper coating that flakes off when it melts.

Why would you want to do it to a heatsink? i guess i dident really catch why you want to do it.
 
actually all modern pennies are zinc with a copper plating (very small amount of copper) but there are certain years, and all pennies before a set year (can't recall them right now) where the pennies were made of SOLID copper... the teacher in his class would've have to have used these pennies...

I know this coz' my dad's a chemistry professor who uses the solid ones for some demostrations (he can dissolve the zinc inside a modern penny to prove the above point - leaving a thinner-than-paper-thin shell of a copper penny)...
 
Actually Electroplating doesn't involve heat but chemical/magnetic
bonding. This is done by the process of electrolysis to remove copper molecules from an anode, or positive electrode, and depositing them on an object acting as the cathode, or negative electrode. Usually while immersed in an acidic electrolyte solution.
Though sometimes an alkalai is used depending on the application.

Chixofnix is right. :)
All pre-1983 pennies are Copper coated Zinc.
(pure Copper became too expensive)

Zinc melts at a lower temp than Copper. Take a newer penny
and heat it up one time. If you get it just right the Silverish
Zinc will flow out and leave a Copper skin. :D

@md0Cer said:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Can you just heat up pennies to a certain point and they turn to copper? If so, it would be cheaper to just melt your own pennies into copper to make a waterblock :D you would need to make a mold somehow though.

No ... Alchemists of old might have tried that but with modern
Chemistry we know better. You cannot change one atom to another. At least not without a multi-billon dollar Nuclear reactor
or particle accelerator. ;)
 
No no no!! I want to plate a copper heatsink with zinc, which would make it look silver, then heat it up to the point where the zinc melts off leaving only a small residue, which appears golden because its so thin. BUT, would the solder on the heatsink melt first? I know this works because i've SEEN it done.
 
Susquehannock said:

Chixofnix is right. :)
All pre-1983 pennies are Copper coated Zinc.
(pure Copper became too expensive)

Not exactly. The last pure copper penny was made in 1837. Contrary to popular belief, the pre-1983 pennies were not pure copper, but 95% copper and 5% zinc. Pre-1962 pennies had a very small tin content. In 1943 (and ONLY 1943), pennies were made of zinc-coated steel because copper was needed for the war effort.
 
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