Chemistry C1 Revision-The purification of copper (by Electrolysis)

We extract metal from ores, a definition for the term Ore is:
Ores are naturally occurring rocks, that are found in the earth's crust, which contain metal or
metal compounds in sufficient amounts to make it worthwhile extracting the metal, another
alternative definition for the term ore is ores are rocks that contain metal or metal compounds in
high enough concentrations to make economical to extract the metal.

So we extract copper from ores, as copper is a metal, and a example of a copper ore is malachite
which contains copper carbonate hydroxide, whose chemical formula is Cu2CO3(OH)2.we
usually extract copper from their malachite ores using the process called Smeltingwhere we
heat the ore strongly. But the issue is that this extraction process produces impure copper. We
require really pure copper to make uses of electrical wiring (as copper is a excellent conductor of
heat and electricity) or water pipes (due to its lack of reactivity to water molecules)

Fortunately we can purify impure copper using the process called Electrolysis which is
considered to be a energy intensive method. We firstly react the impure copper with sulphuric
acid to form a solution of copper sulphate, where ions(electrically charged particles) are present
in the solution. We the emerge a pair of electrodes that come in contact with the copper sulphate
solution. The pair of electrodes consist of a impure copper anode (positive electrode) and a pure
copper cathode (negative electrode). We then apply a electrical current into the solution through
the electrodes. By the way the copper sulphate solution(CuSO4) is the electrolyte in this case,
where the solution has the ability to conduct electricity and has ionic bonds that are decomposed
by the electrical current. There are positively charge copper ions (Cu2+) that are present are
attract towards the pure copper cathode (Negative electrode) where reduction (gain of electrons)
occurs these positively charged copper ions are the reduced to form copper atoms again, where
there is a large deposit of pure copper coated on to the cathode.

However in the the impure copper anode (positive electrode) oxidation (loss of electrons) occurs
where the copper atoms in it, form into positively charged copper ions (electrically charged
particles or atoms with a charge) these positively charged copper ions move off the anode into
solution and the attract towards the pure copper cathode (negative electrode)and are reduced to
form copper atoms again. The impurity atoms in the anode just sink down at the bottom of the
reaction vessel, which is formed in anode sludge state, and they get removed. Ultimately
reduction occurs the cathode which gets bigger, while oxidation occurs at the anode causing it to
grow smaller at the same time.

This word document about the purification of copper