Elton Aldrich, age 17, of Cottage Grove, Ore., for his question:

What is electrolysis?

The process Of electrolysis is not hard to master, step by step. But the names of various items in the process are confusingly alike. To understand the process you must master the meanings of electrode and electrolyte, electrolysis and electrolitic cell.

The process of electrolysis may be used to add the silver coating to silver¬plated tableware. The trick is also called electroplating. The process uses electric current to move the particles dissolved in a chemical solution. A silver rod may be placed in one end and a metal spoon in the other end of the chemical bath. The process of electrolysis steals particles from the silver rod and deposits particles of Silver upon the spoon.

The trick takes place in an electrolitic Cell. There is a Vessel to hold the chemical solution. The electricity required must be direct current and may come from a battery. The wire circuit leading to and from the battery is cut and each end fitted with a metal rod called an electrode. The electrodes are fixed in the bath, one at each end.

When the battery is switched on, one electrode gets an extra charge of negative electricity. This is the cathode. Its opposite is left with a surplus charge of positive electricity. This is the anode. The chemical solution is called the electrolyte and it is by nature a good conductor of electricity. The current can then pass through the electrolyte solution from the anode to the cathode

The dissolved chemicals in the electrolyte may be metallic salts, acids or bases. In solution, the m0lecules Of these substances tend to split into lopsided ion particles, some charged with positive and some with negative electricity. Positive and negative charges attract each other. Negative ions go to the positive anode. If the anode is metal, the clash of charges results in lost particles and the anode becomes eroded. The positive ions go o the negative ion and deposit themselves in a layer. In the silver plating Cell, the silver rod is an anode and the spoon of cheaper metal is a cathode. The electrolyte may be a solution of silver cyanide. In the process of electrolysis, particles are lost by the silver rod. Silver particles are deposited upon the metal spoon.

All electrical tricks are performed by electrons, those particles of negative electricity that orbit the nucleus of the atom. Normally, the number of electrons equals the number Of positively charged protons in the nucleus. This balance makes the atom electrically neutral. When an atom or m0lecule loses or gains electrons, it becomes a charged ion. A lost electron removes a negative charge, leaving a positively charged ion. A gained electron adds a negative charge, creating a negative ion.