Copper Plating a Quarter Without Electricity

Easy Copper Plating demonstration for Science Class, I was meaning to do this how to for quite a few months now, but I have been kind of bussy, but here it is: Remember the copper plating iron nail science project for school? Or the copper plating a key electroplating project for school? Well this combine the simplicity of the displacement/immersion copper coating with the added bonus of being able to copper plate just about any metal you can think of, not just iron, but copper, brass, nickel, silver, gold and any other metal that comes in contact with the electronegative Iron cap and submerged in an electrolictic copper bath(Copper Chloride)

Step 1: Materials

Gerber baby food container with metal lid(the plastic bottom of the lid needs to be removed/scraped to expose the steel/iron metal).

10 grams of Copper Chloride per 100 ml of water(copper acetate, copper sulfate also work, but chloride seems to leave a stronger coat).

Safety glasses, latex gloves.

Coins(quarter in this case, but any other metal will work too).

Step 2: Copper Plating the Quarter

The coin needs to be very clean and free of any oil and dirt, place the coin inside of the lid and pour the copper chloride electrolyte, turn the coin every now and then so it gets an even coating, the coating can be as thick as you desire, remove the coin and lid and rinse in water, pour the elctrolite back on the container you can then use any kind of polish to leave the copper coating a nice shine, you can seal it with nail polish if you like.

Video..