In the electrolytic refining of copper, an electric current is passed through a cell containing a pure copper electrode, an electrode of impure copper, and an aqueous solution containing copper cations. As metallic copper is removed from the impure electroe and redeposited on the pure copper electrode other metallic impurities are left behind if the potential of the cell is adjusted properly. In this process, the impure copper electrode is called the
A) anode
B) cathode
C) reference electrode
D) indicating electrode
After narrowing it down to anode and indicating electrode, how do you determine which it is? I guess, essentially, my question is how do you tell in general if something is an indicating electrode or an anode?