Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de

Educación Bilingüe

Subject: Selected Topics of Chemistry

Ms. Nashiely Elena Moreira

Stage 3: Applications of the oxidation-reduction process

Lab Report 3: Cleaning silver by redox process

Group: 421

Members:

Name ID Number

Giselle Irazú Bautista Salinas 2043394

Danna Paola Chapa Cantú 2043583

Daniela Sofía Cervantes Sierra 2043693

Daniela Fernández Maciel 2043543

Melissa Monserrat Padilla Reyes 2043294

Due date: Monday, March 14, 2022

 “Cleaning silver by redox process”

Purpose and Research Question

Why are you doing this experiment?

We did all this to demonstrate the structure, function and use of redox reaction

What will be learned from doing this experiment?

We could learn how redox reactions can be applied in real and everyday life, plus the tip to
keep your jewelry clean.

Hypothesis

We expect reduction reaction to restore metallic silver at least at a 60% while the
aluminum oxidation reaction drives the reduction of silver and combining these two half
reactions gives us the complete redox reaction.

Introduction

A redox reaction can be defined as a chemical reaction in which electrons are transferred
between two reactants participating in it. This transfer of electrons can be identified by
observing the changes in the oxidation states of the reacting species. All the redox
reactions can be broken down into two different processes, this is, a reduction process
and an oxidation process.

The oxidation and reduction reactions always occur simultaneously in the redox reaction
or Oxidation-Reduction reaction. The substance getting reduced in a chemical reaction is
known as the oxidizing agent, while a substance that is getting oxidized is known as the
reducing agent.
Ex.

2Fe2+ + H2O2 + 2H+ → 2Fe3+ + 2H2O

Oxidation half-reaction: Fe2+ → Fe3+ + e–

Reduction half-reaction: H2O2 + 2e– → 2 OH–

Fe2+ is oxidized to Fe3+ by hydrogen peroxide when an acid is present. Thus, the
hydroxide ion formed from the reduction of hydrogen peroxide combines with the proton
donated by the acidic medium to form water.

Have you ever noticed that your jewelry turns dark with the pass of time? This is because
a thin coating of Silver sulfide forms on the surface of it.

In this experiment we will take advantage of the redox reactions to get rid of this
condition of jewelry.

Variables

Control Variables Independent Variables Dependent Variables

Time and Mixture of NaCl The pieces of silver,and

The cleaness of the pieces
and NaHCO3 how dirty they are
Materials:

Methods:
 Results:

Before After

Rxn when silver gets darken Rxn when silver gets clean

3Ag2S + 2Al — 6Ag + Al2S3 Al2S4+ 6H2O — Al(OH)3 + 3H2S

Even though the silver did get cleaned, it wasn’t as shiny as it was brand new, however I
think that the process does work, so it's only a matter of doing it several times until it's all
cleaned.
 Discussion and Analysis

Silver objects, especially coins, cutlery and jewelry, have an unpleasant tendency to
darken over time and lose that characteristic shine that makes them so attractive. A
blackish substance is deposited on the surface, making the jewel or coin look dirty and
tarnished.

The dissolution of sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride facilitates the mobility of the
ions and the exchange of electrons necessary for the reaction to take place. In this
reaction, electrons are being passed from the aluminum to the silver and for that reason it
is necessary for the silver object to be in contact with the aluminum foil. The silver sulfide
reacts with the aluminum and aluminum silver sulfide is formed, leaving the silver object
clean and recovering its original appearance. Once the silver object is dried with a dry
cloth, it recovers its shine again, leaving no rest of the silver sulfide patina.
In this experiment we were able to observe a redox-type reaction where what happens is
that the atoms pass electrons to each other, depending on the affinity that each one has
to capture these electrons or the ease of losing them. The sulfur takes the electrons
away from the silver first, but when the aluminum shows up, the silver takes the electrons
away from it. When the silver lost its electrons it joined the sulfur forming silver sulfide,
when it recovers the lost electrons it becomes normal silver again, and in our eyes this
makes it look brighter and therefore much better, and the aluminum passes as a ion to the
liquid that we had formed with the dissolved bicarbonate.

As we have already seen, redox reactions are chemical reactions in which an exchange of
electrons occurs between the atoms or molecules involved and this is what happens in
the experiment since when aluminum appears, which is more akin to sulfur than silver, it
takes away this one the electrons.

Analyzing our procedure, we can say that there were no big errors when it was carried out,
since the result was as expected in our hypothesis. Maybe, the objects we used could
have been a little bit more oxidized so that we could see the results better, but either way
we got the expected result.

When comparing our experiment with the one carried out by the Blaise Pascal Institute,
the results and the procedure coincide, as well as we can agree with them that the result
obtained was thanks to the redox reaction that was carried out.
 Conclusion

To sum up, we can say that with this experiment and by comparing our results with other
teams, we learned about oxidation - reduction processes. In this case, and as we
mentioned in the Discussion and Analysis, the type of reaction is known as
electrochemical reactions due to an electric current in between the silver and the
aluminum when the baking soda solution is added. In this experiment, the baking soda
facilitates the movement of electrons. But why are these reactions important? Redox
reactions are the principal sources of energy. When we study these types of reactions,
we learn about the gain and loss of oxygen which ends up in the gain and loss of
hydrogen. This is vital to understand the chemical reactions that are based on the
rearrangement of electrons.

With all of this information, we come up with the conclusion that our hypothesis is correct
and accepted. The silver is reduced and the aluminum is oxidized; this reaction forms
aluminum sulfide, since the aluminum reduces the silver sulfide into elemental silver.
Karmina Estrada Cabrera. (2021, 10 marzo). ¿Cómo limpiar plata? [Vídeo]. YouTube.
https://youtu.be/evztKYxKRtA
 References:

- LibreTexts, Christopher Spohrer, Christina Breitenbuecher, Luvleen Brar. (2021, April 1).
Oxidation-reduction reactions. Chemistry LibreTexts. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from
https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analytical_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_
(Analytical_Chemistry)/Electrochemistry/Redox_Chemistry/Oxidation-Reduction_Reac
tions

- Admin, 2022. Redox Reactions - Examples, Types, Applications, Balancing. [online] BYJUS.
Available at: <https://byjus.com/jee/redox-reactions/> [Accessed 15 March 2022]

- Peter Totaro, Aerotech Processing Solutions, & Editor. (2020, julio 22). Deoxidizing
aluminum and its effectiveness as a pre-treatment for anodizing aluminum alloy.
FinishingandCoating.Com.https://finishingandcoating.com/index.php/anodizing/262-de
oxidizing-aluminum-and-its-effectiveness-as-a-pre-treatment-for-anodizing-aluminum-
alloy

- Helmenstine, A. M. (s/f). A beginner’s guide to oxidation-reduction or redox reactions.

ThoughtCo. Recuperado el 15 de marzo de 2022, de
https://www.thoughtco.com/oxidation-reduction-reactions-604037

- Totaro, P. (2018, junio 1). Deoxidizing aluminum as a pretreatment. Products Finishing.

https://www.pfonline.com/articles/deoxidizing-aluminum-as-a-pretreatment

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zx2bh39/revision/5

- Karmina Estrada Cabrera. (2021, 10 marzo). ¿Cómo limpiar plata? [Vídeo]. YouTube.
https://youtu.be/evztKYxKRtA