Electro Equipment Plating

People who electroplate use some common terms that you may not know. If you ever have to discuss electroplating with someone, you should use these terms.

Anode
The Anode is a piece of metal that is usually made of the metal you are plating. For example, if you are gold plating a watch, you would use a gold anode. If you are nickle plating a car part, the anode would be made of nickle. As you plate more and more items, the anode will get smaller and smaller as the metal is used up.

The Anode is connected to the POSITIVE side of your power supply.

Cathode
The Cathode is another name for the part that you want to apply the plate to. The Cathode is attached to the NEGATIVE terminal on your power supply.

Electrolyte
The Electrolyte is another name for the liquid that your cathode hangs into. The Electrolyte is a mix of chemicals that help plating occur. These chemicals contain dissolved metals. Each different plating process uses different chemicals. For example, Nickle plating uses different chemicals than gold plating.