55 gal drum of copper sulfate

**tdean** · 10-26-2011, 06:59 PM

I have had an old milk can that was in the barn when I bought the place filled with a blue solution. It doesn't seem to freeze in the winter. Sounds like copper sulfate, might have been used on fruit, fumigating grain? or put in water for chickens( they used to have 10,000 of them here.) I wondered about using electrolysis to get the copper in it to stick to a copper pipe electrode, but was afraid I would be left with a few gallons of sulfuric acid. That's what they use to make the stuff, by dissolving copper metal into acid. Thanks to this forum, I have learned something, and I just put an ad on Craigslist for it. Wish the milk can was worth more but they are kind of hard to sell around here, folks dont seem as interested in them as they used to be.

**gustavus** · 10-27-2011, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by tdean

I have had an old milk can that was in the barn when I bought the place filled with a blue solution. It doesn't seem to freeze in the winter. Sounds like copper sulfate, might have been used on fruit, fumigating grain? or put in water for chickens( they used to have 10,000 of them here.) I wondered about using electrolysis to get the copper in it to stick to a copper pipe electrode, but was afraid I would be left with a few gallons of sulfuric acid. That's what they use to make the stuff, by dissolving copper metal into acid. Thanks to this forum, I have learned something, and I just put an ad on Craigslist for it. Wish the milk can was worth more but they are kind of hard to sell around here, folks dont seem as interested in them as they used to be.

I'm surprised the copper has not precipitated into its elemental form. According to the electromotive series of metals your copper sulfate coming into contact with iron would have precipitated the copper out of solution back into pure copper as a beautiful red powder.

**harrisvh** · 10-28-2011, 03:55 AM

Originally Posted by gustavus

I'm surprised the copper has not precipitated into its elemental form. According to the electromotive series of metals your copper sulfate coming into contact with iron would have precipitated the copper out of solution back into pure copper as a beautiful red powder.

Yeah slipped my mind totally that teh can would probably be made of metal. I guess it's antifreeze after all.

**gustavus** · 10-28-2011, 05:20 AM

Originally Posted by harrisvh

Yeah slipped my mind totally that teh can would probably be made of metal. I guess it's antifreeze after all.

If your still unsure hang a clean nail into it for a few minutes, the nail will acquire a copper coat. Process is called plating by immersion.

**tdean** · 10-28-2011, 08:37 AM

thanks, I will try the nail. It is such a brilliant blue, I always think of antifreeze being yellow green buy perhaps they took it out of a tractor nyears ago when antifreeze was blue. Any ideas of what would be left after putting low current through a copper electrode in this stuff, if it is copper sulfate?

**harrisvh** · 10-29-2011, 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by tdean

thanks, I will try the nail. It is such a brilliant blue, I always think of antifreeze being yellow green buy perhaps they took it out of a tractor nyears ago when antifreeze was blue. Any ideas of what would be left after putting low current through a copper electrode in this stuff, if it is copper sulfate?

Antifreeze is blue here in UK which was the reason why I mentioned it that's all. If you are using copper electrodes then copper sulphate will be in the end solution. Copper electrodes are used for refining the metal to make it purer, not to produce copper metal. With other electrodes ie carbon, you will have sulphuric acid as your product solution. If other metal electrodes are used then generally the product will depend on it's affinity for electrons. Anything above copper in electronegativity will give you a sulphate salt of the metal used.

**eesakiwi** · 10-30-2011, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by gustavus

I'm surprised the copper has not precipitated into its elemental form. According to the electromotive series of metals your copper sulfate coming into contact with iron would have precipitated the copper out of solution back into pure copper as a beautiful red powder.

A while ago I picked up a metal tin when scrapping, inside it were several copper coloured silver coins & other coins.
I couldn't figure out the copper coloured silver coins till I read about this.

The copper coins had electroplated the silver coins by using the iron in the metal box, the box was outside & got filled with rain water.