Class- 8th

General Science
Chapter 14-Chemical Effects of Electric
Current
NCERT Textbook Questions
Q 1. Fill in the blanks.
(a) Most liquids that conduct electricity are solutions of ______ , ______ and ______
(b) The passage of an electric current through a solution causes _______ effects.
(c) If you pass current through copper sulphate solution, copper gets deposited on the plate
connected to the ________ terminal of the battery.
(d) The process of depositing a layer of any desired metal on another material by means of
electricity is called _______
Answer:
(a) acids, bases, salts
(b) chemical
(c) negative
(d) electroplating

Q 2.When the free ends of a tester are dipped into a solution, the magnetic needle shows
deflection. Can you explain the reason?
Answer: The deflection in magnetic needle shows that the circuit is complete and the
solution conducts electricity, i.e., it is a good conductor.

Q 3. Name three liquids, which when tested in the manner shown in Fig. 14.5. may cause
the magnetic needle to deflect.
Answer:
Vinegar, lemon juice and tap water.

Q 4. The bulb does not glow in the setup shown in Fig. 14.6. List the possible reasons.
Explain your answer.

Answer: The bulb may not glow because of the following reasons:
(i) The wires in the circuit may be loosely connected.
(ii) The bulb may be fused.
(iii) The cells may be used up.
(iv) The liquid may be an insulator, i.e., a poor conductor of electricity.

Q 5. A tester is used to check the conduction of electricity through two liquids, labelled A
and B. It is found that the bulb of the tester glows brightly for liquid A while it glows very
dimly for liquid B. You would conclude that
(i) liquid A is a better conductor than liquid B.
(ii) liquid B is a better conductor than liquid A.
(iii) both liquids are equally conducting.
(iv) conducting properties of liquid cannot be compared in this manner.
Answer:
(i) liquid A is a better conductor than liquid B.

Q 6. Does pure water conduct electricity? If not, what can we do to make it conducting?
Answer: No, pure water doesn’t conduct electricity. But when salt is dissolved in pure
water, it conducts electricity.

Q 7.
In case of a fire, before the firemen use the water hoses, they shut off the main electrical
supply for the area. Explain why they do this.
Answer:The water used in the water hoses is not pure water and is a good conductor of
electricity. So, the fire¬men shut off the electric supply before spraying water to save
themselves and other people from electrocution.

Q 8. A child staying in a coastal region test the drinking water and also the seawater with
his tester. He finds that the compass needle deflects more in the case of seawater. Can you
explain the reason?
Answer: The seawater contains a huge amount of salts in comparison to drinking water,
hence the seawater is a better conductor of electricity and it produces a stronger magnetic
field in the wire and hence deflects the compass needle more.

Q 9. Is it safe for the electrician to carry out electrical repairs outdoors during heavy
downpour? Explain.
Answer: No, it is highly dangerous to carry out the electrical repairs outdoors during the
heavy downpour. It can cause electrocution, as rain water is a good conductor of electricity.

Q 10. Paheli had heard that rainwater is as good as distilled water. So she collected some
rainwater in a clean glass tumbler and tested it using a tester. To her surprise, she found
that the compass needle showed deflection. What could be the reasons?
Answer: Rainwater is pure water which is an insulator but it gets mixed with air pollutants
like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides and form acidic solution, which is a good
conductor of electricity. So, the compass needle showed deflection.

Q 11. Prepare a list of objects around you that are electroplated.

Answer: Objects that are electroplated are door handles, taps, rims of cycles, showers, the
handlebar of cycles and bikes, gas burner, tin cans, metallic almirahs, buckles of belts, etc.

Q 12. The process that you saw in Activity 14.7 is used for purification of copper. A thin
plate of pure copper and a thick rod of impure copper are used as electrodes. Copper from
impure rod is sought to be transferred to the thin copper plate. Which electrode should be
attached to the positive terminal of the battery and why?
Answer: The thick rod of impure copper plate is to be attached to the positive terminal of
the battery because when electric current is passed through the copper sulphate solution, it
gets dissociated into copper and sulphate. The free copper, being positively charged, gets
drawn to the negative terminal of the battery and gets deposited on it. On the other hand
the loss of copper from the solution is regained from the impure copper rod which is
attached to the positive terminal of the battery.

Activity 6 (NCERT Textbook, Page 176) Do it in the notebook

Q. With the help of an activity show the process of electrolysis of water. Also draw its
diagram.
Or
Q. With the help of an activity show the electric effect of current. Also draw its
diagram.

Make two electrodes using carbon rods carefully from two discarded cells. Pour a cupful of
water in a glass/ plastic bowl. Add a teaspoonful of salt or a few drops of lemon juice to
water to make it more conducting. Now immerse the electrodes in this solution. Make sure
that the metal caps of the carbon rods are outside the water. Wait for 3-4 minutes. Observe
the electrodes carefully.
Observation & Result: On passing electric current through the conducting solution of
lemon juice and water, chemical reaction takes place. Water is dissociated into its
constituent gases, i.e., hydrogen and oxygen. Oxygen bubbles are formed on the electrode
connected to the positive terminal of the battery and hydrogen bubbles are formed on the
other electrode.This process is known as chemical effects of current.

Activity 7 (NCERT Textbook, Page 177) Do it in the notebook

Q. With the help of an activity show the process of electroplating. Also draw its
diagram.
Ans. Take copper sulphate and two copper plates. Take 250 ml. of distilled water in a clean
and dry beaker. Dissolve two teaspoonfuls of copper sulphate in it. Add a few drops of
dilute sulphuric acid to copper sulphate solution to make it more conducting. Clean copper
plates with sand paper. Now rinse them with water and dry them. Connect the copper
plates to the terminals of a battery and immerse them in copper sulphate solution. Allow
the current to pass for about 15 minutes. Now remove the electrodes from the solution and
look at them carefully
Solution: After removing the electrodes from the solution, we find that copper metal gets
deposited on the plate at the negative of the battery. It is concluded that when electric
current is passed through the copper sulphate solution, copper sulphate dissociates into
copper and sulphate. The free copper gets deposited on the plate acting as cathode.
Gradually, a layer of copper builds up on the plate. This process is known as electroplating.
NCERT Intext Activities Solved (Write the observations in the
book and learn them)

Activity 1 (NCERT Textbook, Page 173)

Join the free ends of the tester together for a moment. This completes the circuit of the
tester and the bulb should glow. However, if the bulb does not glow, it means that the tester
is not working. Can you think of the possible reasons? Is it possible that the connections are
loose? Or, the bulb is fused? Or, your cells are used up? Check that all the connections are
tight. If they are, then replace the bulb with another bulb. Now test if the tester is working
or not. If it is still not working then replace the cells with fresh cells.
Solution: In this activity, if the bulb does not glow, it means that either the connections of
the circuit are loose or the bulb is fused or cells are used up. If the tester is working, it can
be used to test the materials, i.e., whether it is a conductor or non-conductor of electricity.

Activity 2 (NCERT Textbook, Page 773)

Collect a few small plastic or rubber caps of discarded bottles and clean them. Pour one
teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar in one cap. Bring your tester over this cap and let the
ends of the tester dip into lemon juice or vinegar as shown in Fig. 14.1. Take care that the
ends are not more than 1 cm apart but at the same time do not touch each other. Does the
bulb of the tester glow? Does lemon juice or vinegar conduct electricity? How would you
classify lemon juice or vinegar—a good conductor or a poor conductor?

Solution:In this activity the bulb glows which shows that lemon juice and vinegar both
conducts electricity, hence they are good conductors of electricity.

Activity 3 (NCERT Textbook, Page 174)

Take the tray from inside a discarded matchbox. Wrap an electric wire a few times around
the tray. Place a small compass needle inside it. Now connect one free end of the wire to the
terminal of a battery.
Leave the other end free. Take another piece of wire and connect it to the other terminal of
the battery (Fig. 14.2).
Join the free ends of two wires momentarily. The compass needle should show deflection.
Your tester with two free ends of the wire is ready.
Now repeat Activity 14.2 using this tester. Do you find a deflection in the compass
needle the moment you dip the free ends of the tester in lemon juice?

Take out the ends of the tester from the lemon juice, dip them in water and then wipe them
dry. Repeat the activity with other liquids such as tap water, vegetable oil, milk, honey.
(Remember to wash and wipe the ends of tester after testing each liquid). In each case
observe whether the magnetic needle shows deflection or not. Record your observations in
Table 14.1.
Solution:
Good/Poor Conducting Liquids

Compass Needle Shows

S.No. Material Good Conductor/ Poor Conductor
Deflection Yes/No

1. Lemon juice Yes Good conductor

2. Vinegar Yes Good conductor

3. Tap water Yes Good conductor

4. Vegetable oil No Poor conductor

5. Milk Yes Good conductor

6. Honey No Poor conductor

7. Soda Yes Good conductor

8. Distilled water No Poor conductor

9. Kerosene oil No Poor conductor

10. Curd and water Yes Good conductor

Thus, lemon juice, vinegar, tap water, milk, curd and water, and soda are good conductors
of electricity while vegetable oil, honey, kerosene oil, and distilled water are poor
conductors of electricity or insulators.

Activity 4 (NCERT Textbook, Page 175)

Take about two teaspoonfuls of distilled water in a clean and dry plastic or rubber cap of a
bottle. (You may obtain distilled water from your school science lab. You may also get
distilled water from a medical store or a doctor or a nurse). Use the tester to test whether
distilled water conducts electricity or not. What do you find? Does distilled water conduct
electricity? Now dissolve a pinch of common salt in distilled water. Again test. What do you
conclude this time?
Solution: If the tester is put in distilled water, the bulb of the tester does not glow. This
shows that distilled water does not conduct electricity. But when salt is dissolved in
distilled water and again tested, the bulb glows which shows that water containing salts
conduct electricity. Thus water which is free of salts are poor conductors while water with
salts is a good conductor of electricity.

Activity 5 (NCERT Textbook, Page 176)

Take three clean plastic or rubber caps of bottles. Pour about two teaspoonfuls of distilled
water in each of them. Add a few drops of lemon juice or dilute hydrochloric acid to
distilled water in one cap. Now in the second cap containing distilled water, add a few
drops of a base such as caustic soda or potassium iodide. Add a little sugar to the distilled
water in the third cap and dissolve it. Test which solutions conduct electricity and which do
not. What results do you obtain?
Solution:First and second cap with acid and base respectively, conducts electricity
whereas third cap having sugar dissolved in distilled water do not conduct electricity.

Q. What are electrodes?

Answer: Electrodes are the terminals through which current is passed into a liquid.

Q. What is LED?
Answer: LED is Light Emitting Diode.

Q. Jaya sets up a circuit as given below. But the bulb does not glow. Why?
Answer: The bulb does not glow because distilled water is an insulator, since it does not
have dissolved salts.

Q. When the free ends of a tester are dipped into a solution, the magnetic needle shows
deflection. Can you explain the reason?
Answer: Yes, the solution does conduct electricity. Compass needle shows deflection due to
magnetic effect of electric current.

Q. Name three liquids, which when tested in the manner shown in figure, may cause the
magnetic needle to deflect.

Answer: The compass needle will show deflection with tap water, lemon juice and sodium
chloride solution.

Q. Deposits can be seen in containers uses for storing water. Explain why these deposits
occur.
Answer: In containers, water evaporates slowly. The salts separate out and deposit on

Q. Why should you not touch electrical appliances with wet hands ?
Answer: Water is a solution of salts and so it is a good conductor of electricity. Therefore,
we can be electrocuted in case we touch appliances with wet hands.

Q . Why is chromium used for electroplating? .

Answer: Chromium is used for electroplating because it has a shiny appearance, does not
corrode and is scratch resistant.

Q . Why the iron cans are electroplated with tin?

Answer: Tin is less reactive than iron. Thus food, stored in iron cans, is prevented from
being spoilt due to iron by electroplating it by tin.
Q. If the ends of the wire of tester are touched for a long time, what will happen?
Answer:If the ends of the wire of tester are touched for a long time, the cells will be finished
very soon.

Q. What is the disadvantage of electroplating done in the factories ?

Answer: The disposal of the used conducting solution after electroplating is hazardous and
can cause environmental pollution. There are specific disposal guidelines for
environmental protection.

Q. How are bridges and automobiles prevented from rusting?

Answer: Bridges and automobiles are prevented from rusting by plating them with zinc.

Q. Why are LEDs more useful for testing the flow of electric current?
Answer: LEDs require very little energy and glow even if a small current is passing through
the circuit.

Q. After the electroplating of a spoon with silver, it was found that the anode has become
thin. Why?
Answer: During electroplating, the silver metal from the anode is deposited on the cathode.
Therefore, it becomes thin.

Q. What is electroplating? Write its one use.

Answer: Electroplating is the process of depositing a thin film of one metal over another
metal by passing electric current through an electrolyte. Use plating artificial jewellery with
gold.

Q. How can you make a tester for testing whether a given material is a conductor or an
insulator ?
Answer:A tester can be made by attaching one free end of the wire to a terminal of a
battery and another wire from other terminal of the battery to a bulb. The two free ends of
wire are connected to the material to be tested.

Q . The bulb in the tester does not glow when current is passed through it. What can be the
possible reasons for this?
Answer:The possible reasons for this are :

 the connections may be loose.

  the bulb may be defective.
 the cells may be defective.

Q.The liquid is a conductor and the circuit is also complete, but the bulb does not glow. Why
?
Answer: The bulb does not glow even though the circuit is complete because the current is
too small. The filament of the bulb is heated due to current and then it glows.

Q. If the current in the circuit is small, how can we test its presence?
Answer: We can test the presence of the small current by using a LED instead of the bulb.

Q .Give three applications of chemical effect of current.

Answer:

 Electroplating.
 Refining of impure metals.
 Refining of metal are for obtaining pure metal.

Q. Which properties of chromium make it useful for electroplating on iron? Why we cannot
make the whole article with chromium?
Answer: Chromium has a good shine, it resists scratches and is corrosion resistant. We
cannot make the whole article from it because it is a very costly metal.