can you gold plate onto stainless steel?
544136
Yup.  According to the electrochemical series, the Au3+ ion (in order to plate itself, gold must first be converted to an ion from an anode in an electrochemical cell: how that is so is another question...) is a relatively good oxidizing agent (which means itself gets reduced) when compared with other metals at least.  You can check this by seeing its standard reduction potential.  Standard reduction potential for gold is +1.50 eV while that of Fe(steel is mostly iron) is only ) 0.77eV.  The rule is that, the metal with the greater reduction potential gets plated on the one with less potential.\n\nCheck this link for a better understanding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Srptable.JPG
234786
No. The gold can be recovered from the mercury amalgam (very dangerous!), but the jewelry will most likely be destroyed. Don't wear it either, mercury has lethal effects on the central nervous system.
535149
Actually the copper doesn't come directly from the solution...\n\nNot sure how much detail you want, but it does use electroplating.  This means that it uses electricity to plate metal on an object.  The stainless steel object is put on the "positive end" and a lump of pure copper is placed on the "negative end."  A low voltage is used because a high voltage plates too fast, and the layer will peel off quickly.  If copper is the plating, then the solution must be a fairly low-concentration copper sulfate (CuSO4) solution, meaning that copper is the only metal present in the electrochemical cell.  The negative end is called the anode, and this decreases in mass as its copper ions are taken to the positive end -- the cathode.  \n\nThis method of plating multiple metals is actually fairly common, because the properties of each one can be combined.  Nickel can be used for farm equipment and engines because it can withstand a lot of force, silver is used for decoration, chromium is used to withstand a lot of use (like a spoon).  Copper is able to conduct heat and helps food cook evenly.
641522
There is a place in Nevada the town of Dayton that has a mint that may do something like this they were called Medallic, though I don't think the prices will be exactly to your liking.... I can't advertise here but my husband could do this..... Don't know what to do about this situation... My understanding is that you want 10,000 coins that way 1 gram each made of gold, easy enough once the logo is cut into the proper die.....if you want let me know I guess and I will turn on my email address for you.... but I am not certain of how this should work here.... if you are serious. I will leave this address open for two days
816237
I do not think that atoms will fly over the gap between a piece of gold and and old lead pipe.\n\nHowever, gold and lead readily form a wide range of alloy compositions. Lead has a high affinity for gold and can be used as a collector for gold in pyrometallurgical processes. The lead can be subsequently separated by volatilization.
280570
The CPU has a small amount of gold and the pins and connectors of some components are gold plated.
419109
I don't remember the ordering, but there's probably some metal out there that won't react?  Gold, maybe?  For regular metal, that sounds a bit iffy.
1131804
You have the potential for galvanic corrosion.  Essentially, two metals at different potentials share electrons and one metal (the one with the higher potential) will start to erode and "plate" the other metal.\n\nTypically, using some sort of material that is a non-conductor (ceramics, rubber, etc) between the two or passivating the metal surfaces or coating the metal surfaces (prime and paint per ANSI standards) are your best options to prevent this.
321487
yes. you might get the pot of gold instead.
957199
If you are doing it in a laboratory setting, you can mix it with carbon and reduce it to the metal. You will need high temperatures, though.
1039864
If you can measure the weight and volume of the ring, you could find its density.  The value will be different depending on what purity it is (24k will be denser than 12k, for example).  Most gold in jewelry is not 24k, but some alloy with nickel, copper, etc. that makes it harder.  These alloys are also how you get white, pink, and green gold.\n\nBiting a ring will only give you marks if it is 24k gold.\n\ndensity would be the easiest way, I'd say.  (density = mass/volume)\nYou'll need the equipment to measure pretty small masses and volumes, though, which most people don't have in their kitchens.
691661
Gold plating is typically so thin unless you have a real lot of it it would not be worth the trouble.  A gold plated ring would probably contain less than 10 mg of gold - about 20 cents at $600 per ounce.  If you dissolve the entire jewelry in aqua regia (a mix of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid) and then neutralize, the gold can be precipitated either electrochemically or by a more active metal such as zinc.  Good luck.  A whole lot of mess and danger for a few dollars worth of gold.
467500
The gold reclamation process from computer parts (primarily cpus and connecting pins) involves the use of dangerously strong acids and should only be attempted by someone who has researched the process carefully. The 2 items which contain the most gold use similar processes with slightly different acids. I have tried this approach and found more effort in the process, required chemicals, and discarding of the waste products than the value of the gold I recovered.\nThere are a few sellers on EBay and other sites who will gladly sell you the information you need but rest assured that there is more money selling the process to individuals than thay make recovering.\nMay I suggest you sell your CPUs and "finger connectors" on EBay, (just use sheetmetal snips to cut the connector section from the board) they will fetch you a good price with a LOT less effort.
97135
Stainless steel will scratch (think of a stainless steel sink and what it looks like after a few years), plus it definitely lacks the romantic cache of gold, platinum or other jeweler's metals.
227707
yeah, if I could scratch it with a steel knife.  Pyrite would be flaky and would feel like glass almost. Gold would be soft and I could sink a knife into it a bit.  I don't know what silver feels like but I could tell it after I found the first two.
832359
Depends on what you want. I got a 40 lb set at Wal-Mart that you manually change the plates on for $25. They also sell additional plates for under $1/lb.
1125460
You should consider/investigate electroless plating processes. \n\nHi-Phosphorous Electroless nickel is a continuous coating easily applied inside container/cavities like your teapot, and is reasonably affordable.  Contains mostly nickel with a minor amount of phosphorous - the high phosphorous version is quite corrosion resistant to many acids except sulphuric.  Low-phos and standard electroless are cheaper, but with lower corrosion resistance - these might work for you too - a little experimentation is worth doing.  Check around for prices at the plating shop - coating quality varies a lot.\n\nThere is an electroless gold plating process too (of high purity), but you can imagine it is more expensive and is porous at the microscopic level, so doesn't give you the corrosion resistance you might otherwise expect.  It is very possible to combine the two: modestly thin gold (10-30um) on top of nickel, and then you'd have a pretty good coating at a reasonable price.\n\nThere is an old 'tinning' plating process utilizing tin (Sn), but I think it is electrolytic and hard to put down inside a cavity like a teapot.  \n\nA silver-tin tinning "hot wash" is traditionally done inside copper pots (after acid cleaning) to provide a food-grade coating, but the teapot will have to be heated up quite hot (~200°C/400°F) to soldering temperatures, and this may play havoc with the existing silver plating, or even with the construction of the teapot (the spout may fall off).\n\nFor food-grade and chemical purity, consider some kind of polymer coating, but you'll have problems with the coating sticking, or you'll have to heat up the teapot pretty hot to cure the paint (check out "Teflon" or "Silverstone" coating services); there is a very remote possibility of an acrylic paint coating (solvent evaporation), but you'd need to know what was in the paint, or make the paint yourself.\n\nAny way you approach this problem, however, is going to run into the problem of the cost of labor - the coating material cost isn't going to the be the high cost adder (mostly because the coating is so thin).  Disposal of the plating fluids will be expensive too, so factor that into the cost as well.\n\nBy the way, you didn't say what metal was exposed - if copper, that is OK - copper pipes are used in household plumbing.  Just clean up the copper and enjoy.  Iron and aluminum is OK too, just keep everything scrubbed clean.