Inside it the piece of metal to be plated is hooked up as the cathode (negative pole) of an electrical circuit. The plating material forms the anode (positive pole). When a high-voltage direct ...

The main components of an electroplating setup include the cathode (the object to be plated), the anode (a metal supplying ions for plating), and the electrolyte solution containing dissolved ions.

The anode (positive electrode) is made from impure copper and the cathode (negative electrode) is made from pure copper. Pure copper forms on the cathode. The slideshow shows how this works.