Instructions ElectrochemLab1

Obtainapieceoffilterpaperanddrawfivesmallcircleswithconnectinglines,asshownin
Figure1.Usingapairofscissors,cutwedgesbetweenthecirclesasshown.Labelthecircles
M1,M2,M3,M4,andM5.Placethefilterpaperontopoftheglassplate.

Obtain5piecesofmetal,M1,M2,M3,M4,andM5.Sandeachpieceofmetalonbothsides.
Placeeachmetalnearthecirclewiththesamenumber.

Place3dropsofeachsolutiononitscircle(M 12+onM1,etc.).Thenplacethepieceofmetal
onthewetspotwithitsrespectivecation.Thetopsideofthemetalshouldbekeptdry.Then
addseveraldropsof1MNaNO3tothelinedrawnbetweeneachcircleandthecenterofthe
filterpaper.BesurethereisacontinuoustrailofNaNO3betweeneachcircleandthecenter.
YoumayhavetoperiodicallydampenthefilterpaperwithNaNO3duringtheexperiment.

Use metal M1 (the one that is obviously copper) as the reference metal. Determine the
potentialoffourcellsbyconnectingM 1toM2,M1toM3,M1toM4,and M1toM5.Thisis
donebybringingthe(+)leadincontactwithonemetalandthe()leadincontactwiththe
other.Ifthevoltagedropsto0.00Vorbecomesnegative,thenreversetheleads.Waitabout
5secondstotakeavoltagereading,andrecordthevalueappearingonthemonitorinData
Table 1. Also record which metal is the (+) terminal and which is (). Use the same
procedureandmeasurethepotentialoftheotherthreecells,continuingtouseM 1 asthe
referenceelectrode.

Usingthecomputerorcalculatorasavoltmeter,the(+)leadmakescontactwithonemetal
andthe()leadwithanother.Ifapositivevoltageisrecordedonthescreen,youhave
connectedthecellcorrectly.Ifyougetareadingof0.00Voranegativevalue,thenyoumust
reversetheleads.

Figure1
DATA TABLE 1
Voltaic Cell Measured Potential Metal Number Metal Number
(metals used) (V) of (+) lead of (-) lead

M1/M2

M1/M3

M1/M4

M1/M5