A spoon to be electroplated with gold should be placed at:

Options

A. cathode
B. anode
C. electrolyte
D. none of these

Explanation

To determine where a spoon should be placed for electroplating with gold, we need to understand the process of electroplating and the roles of the components involved.

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Understand Electroplating**:
Electroplating is a process that uses electrical current to reduce dissolved metal cations so that they form a coherent metal coating on an electrode.

2. **Identify the Components**:
In electroplating, there are typically three main components:
- **Anode**: The electrode where oxidation occurs.
- **Cathode**: The electrode where reduction occurs.
- **Electrolyte**: A solution that contains metal ions (in this case, Au³⁺ ions) and allows the flow of electric current.

3. **Reduction and Oxidation**:
- At the **cathode**, reduction takes place. This means that metal ions gain electrons and are deposited as solid metal.
- At the **anode**, oxidation occurs, where solid metal is converted into metal ions.

4. **Gold Reduction Reaction**:
The reduction reaction for gold can be represented as:
\[ \text{Au}^{3+} + 3e^- \rightarrow \text{Au (s)} \]
This indicates that gold ions gain electrons to become solid gold.

5. **Standard Electrode Potential**:
The standard electrode potential (E°) for gold is +1.50 V, which indicates that gold ions are easily reduced. This means that gold will readily gain electrons compared to other metals.

6. **Conclusion**:
Since reduction occurs at the cathode and gold ions are easily reduced, the spoon (which is to be electroplated with gold) should be placed at the cathode.

### Final Answer:
The spoon should be placed at the **cathode**.

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