Electrolysis

Electrolysis is the use of electricity to separate elements or compounds. Here the objective is to separate water into hydrogen gas and oxygen gas. This project can become dangerous if you decide to collect the gases. You won’t get pure oxygen unless your battery has platinum electrodes, but you can collect a sample of hydrogen gas. Hydrogen burns easily in air (Hindenburg) and burns vigorously with a clear flame when mixed with oxygen (space shuttle main engines).

danger level

negligible
moderate
high
do not do this

tools

(None)

materials

A. Table Salt
B. Container with water
C. 9 volt batter

how-to

Add several tablespoons of salt [edit: baking soda is a safer choice…read the comments] to the water and stir it until it disolves. This step provides free ions, making a solution which conducts electricity.
Place the battery in the solution. You should see tiny bubbles on both of the electrodes. The one that produces bubbles faster is producing hydrogen. The battery will only last a few minutes in the solution.
Optionally, you can attach wires or graphite rods to the battery terminals and leave the battery out of the water. Using graphite rods will speed up the process considerably.

105 Comments:

Sep 24, 2006 | 8:15 pm

Dennis wrote:

I would caution against using Sodium Chloride (salt) in solution for electrolysis. The gas you get from the anode is actually a mixture of Cl2, Chlorine and O2, Oxygen. The chlorine will dissolve back into the water at first, but as it gets saturated the bubbles will come out of solution and rise up along with the oxygen. Chlorine is pretty nasty stuff in and of itself, but combine it with the Hydrogen and it will react violently making Hydrochloric Acid. You can use baking soda instead to provide the ions and prevent any formation of toxic gases.
Dec 8, 2006 | 8:07 pm

Scientist A1 wrote:

Does this make any hydroelectricity?
Dec 27, 2006 | 3:27 am

Da Lam wrote:

It has nothing to do with making hydroelectricity…Electrolysis is the seperation of atoms by using electricity
Jan 3, 2007 | 3:27 pm

Anonymous wrote:

It does have ’something’ to do with it though. How to produce hydrogen witch later can be used in a car for example.

A way of doing this could be to have a solar panel to produce electricity in to a electrolysis production of hydrogen. Witch later could be used in a hydrogen car for example
Jan 31, 2007 | 5:55 pm

Nitro wrote:

What is the purpose of doing this? I’m intrigued…
Jan 31, 2007 | 7:23 pm

jpow wrote:

this is the same matter that my job consists of. we use, on a larger scale, the same principle with graphite anodes to protect underground natural gas lines and oil well casing.
Jan 31, 2007 | 7:34 pm

tinman wrote:

be careful using low voltage transformers (”black things that plug into the wall”). a low voltage across your chest is just what you need to stop your heart
Feb 2, 2007 | 7:44 am

umpf wrote:

Whatever “black thing that plug into the wall” you use, it won’t have enough voltage to seriously harm you.
If you aren’t soaked with water or something like that, up to 30V DC is no problem.
The only thing that can do harm is current - and for a dangerous current to flow (only a few mA, even the smallest batteries could supply that), one needs a high voltage or a low resistance. “The body” has a relatively high resistance unless wet or otherwise made conductive - if you jump into sulphuric acid, low voltage can harm you (apart from the obvious trouble).
For certain AC frequencies (line freq is quite bad), even smaller currents cam be harmful - but using AC for electrolysis is, more or less, pointless.
Feb 3, 2007 | 1:56 am

Jane Q. Public wrote:

While low voltage transformers will likely work, as umpf mentions it is not the voltage that will kill you, it is the current. (Although it must be said that you generally must have a minimum voltage sufficient to push the current through you… which when dry is usually considered to be 40 to 50 V or so. In a conductive ionic solution the voltage necessary to carry a fatal current might well be much lower.)

Currents as low as 70mA (0.07 amps) have been known to be fatal. Modern batteries are quite capable of delivering that much current, as are the “wall bricks” mentioned. So do not play with high-current power supplies with conductive solutions, unless you know what the hell you are doing!

While umpf is correct that AC is generally more dangerous than DC, one should be aware that many of those wall bricks do not actually deliver DC but “chopped DC”, which while not as bad as AC is still a voltage that varies at the same frequency.

Any time you are messing with more than a few volts, especially around conductive ionic solutions, take care. If you do not know exactly what you are doing, you risk injury or death from electricity, unexpected and unwanted chemical reactions, or both!
Feb 3, 2007 | 2:02 am

Jane Q. Public wrote:

To clarify: Above I mentioned that fatalities have been caused by as little as 70mA of current. To put that in perspective, a single high-brightness LED such as used in cheap flashlights can use 25mA or more. So the amount of current needed to light 3 LEDs can be fatal in some circumstances. That’s not very much. Be sure you know what you are doing.
Feb 3, 2007 | 4:12 pm

Biff Spaceman wrote:

We used a solution of Red Devil lye and a 12 volt battery charger to do some useful work with electrolysis. Plus it is fun to take the nickel plating off off the coins and put it on bolts or other things.
Eye protection and gloves and an apron and a long sleeve shirt or rainjacket!
Feb 11, 2007 | 5:54 pm

Anonymous wrote:

I did this and the battery gave off black specks and the water turned green. Can someone tell me what happened?
Feb 24, 2007 | 1:27 am

nobody special wrote:

Low-voltage fatalities often come when a wire pierces the skin. The resistance of dry skin is quite high, but the wet tissue within is much, much lower. Even a very small alternating current from one arm to the other (and across the chest) can easily stop your heart — *especially* in America, and other 60hz countries.
Feb 25, 2007 | 6:02 am

SCIGUY wrote:

I have to agree, and disagree with the above statements. I would not suggest that you plug anything into the wall, and submerge it into any type of fluid solution. In the case of elecroplating,you better know what your doing. If you are going to experiment with elecrolysis, wear rubber gloves as you would with any other experiment, take every precaution to protect yourself. Dont allow your skin to become too wet as this lowers your resistance. Also to say that Baking soda is a completely safe additive to your water is totally false. Although the amount is smaller, baking soda does emit Chlorine gas just as Salt does. It is much safer, but use it in a well ventilated area just to be sure.Chlorine gas can make u real sick, real quick. Graphite rods will work well, Platinum wire is the best if you can get your hands on some.Look around the internet youll find some places that sell it in small quantity. Remeber that the size of, and space betweeen your electrodes will make your experiment vary in the amount of gasses produced. Larger and closer as a rule. Another thing i would like to mention is that where bubbles are forming on your electrodes, …for simplicity sake… that is an area that can do you no more good. Make your electrodes with sharp edges,or rough surfaces facing upward, rather than smooth so that the bubbles free themselves easier, not clinging to your electrodes causing areas to be non productive. I have personally found that slowly stirring the water will increase your hydrogen and oxygen production without an increase in current simply for that reason. Also stay away from stainless steel,Its very appealing, and is mentioned on numerous websites as safe and it may seem that the electrodes dont disolve, but Chromium is being disolved into the water and that is also highly toxic. Stick with Carbon or Platinum. Have fun, but first be safe. Finally electrolysis of water using DC current is a fairly unproductive method, yes you will get to see the bubbles, but there are ways to increase the output tremendously using different methods. A temperature difference between two ends of a platinum wire will make alot of gas in a relative short time if you know what to do. Ill check back on this post in a few days if anyone is interested in the second method i will go into details. Again be safe and have fun- SCIGUY
Feb 25, 2007 | 7:50 pm

Questionary wrote:

How could I just conserve, preserve an hydrogen after chemical reaction hapend within experiment.
Question is how to put hydrogen into some can or something similar, to make it presurased?
tnx
Feb 25, 2007 | 9:48 pm

Chemistry Teacher wrote:

I quote SCIGUY: “baking soda does emit Chlorine gas just as Salt does”

Baking Soda is sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO3). There is not a speck of chlorine in it. You will not get any chlorine gas (unless you’re using swimming pool water :)

Safety tip: if you must mix electricity and water then try to do it with one hand held behind your back — seriously!
Feb 25, 2007 | 10:57 pm

SCIGUY wrote:

Hi Chemisty Teacher, i was up late that night. Thanks for the correction, i just noticed what i wrote and laughed. Meant to refer to NaCl. Thank you
Feb 25, 2007 | 11:39 pm

SCIGUY wrote:

To “Questionary” on Colecting gasses from eletrolysis, Collecting the gas in small amounts in a small test tube is totally different than trying to collect the gases and store them in quantity.Even in smaller amounts storage is a tricky thing. Hydrogen is the smallest of Atoms, its lighter than air, and escapes very easily, after time even through metal. If you did your absolute best to take every precaution, you could still make an error that could cost you dearly. If you do any research on the net about storing hydrogen, you will usually find that it is stored in very carefully designed, and very thick containers usually in liquid form,Cryogenic, I would definitely not recommend trying to store and or compress it yourself, You could end up with a nice big bang and lose your fingers or worse. Just a little bit of oxygen/hydrogen mix in the bottom of a liter of water ignited is enough to shoot the water 15 feet in the air, and thats with the top open.I have seen the gas stored in a two liter soda bottle and sealed, explode and Blow a hole through 2 inch thick plexiglass. Bottom line dont do it, its not safe if you dont have the proper equipment and education.
Feb 26, 2007 | 5:48 pm

arch wrote:

I did this in an archaeology lab they called it an electrolytic reduction tank. We used to use a car battery but definitely baking soda. We tied wires to rods over the tank and put old pieces of metal (Colonial period nails and shovel heads) into the water and it bubbled the rust off leaving just carbon which was taken off with a mini sandblaster.
Mar 10, 2007 | 8:45 pm

me wrote:

me and my frend did this project with salt and got almost a hole bottle of hydrogen but i am not sure how to blow it off safly. how can i do it safly?
Mar 11, 2007 | 1:42 am

Insomniac wrote:

A fun thing to do is add somthing to the water to make it froth. Make sure that both the hydrogen and the oxygen are captured in the foam, an make sure the foam bubbles arn’t too small (it will be very weak with small bubbles)
I only use about 2 coke bottle
lids worth at a time just to be safe. Light it with a match, it is loud and is safer than most other explosives because it doesn’t throw shrapnel.
Mar 14, 2007 | 3:09 am

Bob wrote:

To clarify: anything above 50mA can send you to the hospital, and anything above 70Ma will most certainly kill you. The human body has a resistance between 20 and 50 Kohms, being wet or holding the leads tighter reduces the resistance. I refer to Grob’s Basic Electronics 11th ed. textbook. I=V/R
Mar 14, 2007 | 10:25 am

Quinn wrote:

Im comparing electrolytes for science fair, Copper sulphate and Sodium Sulphate. I just don’t get why Sulphate does not take part in the reaction of Copper Sulphate in an aqueous solution.
Mar 15, 2007 | 10:27 am

A guy that needs help wrote:

Look guys i have this chem. project where i’m performing electrolysis of H2O with NaCl (table salt wud do right?) dissolved in it. Im takin 3 cases: one with C electrodes , one with Cu, and one with Fe. Can anyone give me the ionic/net/overall reactions for the last 2? IN the experiments i got blue and yellow solutions , but i still cant figure rxns out.
Mar 15, 2007 | 7:31 pm

Anonymous wrote:

A guy that needs help:
Try this:
6H20 + 3NaCl + Fe -> FeCl3 + 6H2 + 3Na02

Iron chloride (FeCl3) is yellow in color which would most likely explain why you’re solution was yellow. I ‘m not sure if this rxn is correct but it is balanced and there is a high chance that it’s very close. I don’t know anything about Sodium Oxide though, did any precipitates form?
Mar 18, 2007 | 12:51 pm

jalopi wrote:

uhmm… i didn’t really read all of the replies, BUT, HCl is a confusing molecule. AS A LIQUID, and ONLY a LIQUID, does it take the form of HydroChloric acid, HOWEVER, as a gas, it exists as Hydrochloride, a compound which does not have the properties of HCl.
Mar 28, 2007 | 2:40 pm

a person wrote:

Insomniac has a good idea!
if you add dish soap or something to the salt water mixture, it will probably make bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen, which you can then light on fire like in the ‘burning bubbles’ project. I haven’t tried this yet, so i don’t know if it will work, but it should work as planned.
Mar 30, 2007 | 4:21 am

crashtestmonkey wrote:

The idea of electrolysis is thousands of years old. Look up the ‘Baghdad Battery’, it casts some serious questions about solid gold artefacts found in tombs!

Good experiment though. Science is dying out in our schools and needs to be fun to encourage learning.
Apr 14, 2007 | 11:41 pm

lyquid*cape wrote:

i once electroplated a nickel with some pennies…
i used a 12vDC “wall brick” and vinegar. the nickel actually did start looking like copper, but I suggest using a bundle of copper wire instead of pennies
Apr 26, 2007 | 2:09 pm

hydro-boost saturn wrote:

ya hey, im gonna capture the gases and use them to increase the fuel milage of my car. i am going to use a weak mixture of water and lye for my eletrolite and although i sux at spelling i would still apreciate the hear about a way to increase the production of the gases. would phased dc be better than just straight 14v from my battery? would hooking it to my alternator be better than a amp relay switch hooked to the bat?if phased dc is better what freq. should i use and how would i go about building the module? i am useing a very simple hydrolosis cell at the moment. just alluminum screen and some steel bolts all encased in a light fixture. although the elctrods do disolve quite rapidly ( one month time mostly eaten away and low gas production). now keep in mind im keeping this cheap as seeing im trying to save money on gas. ya im a cheap. so any help would be apreciated. i could send pictures of my device if you wish but its simple what has been dubbed the joe cell. just i used parts tht were cheap or free. i have 20 bucks wrapped in to it and gained a 20% increase in fuel economy. i did use a preesure gauge in testing phase and it rounded off about 5 to 8 psi pumped directly in to the intake near the throtle body injector. i got a few sputers by holding the hose from my cell right by the butterfly in the intake with the injector diconected. so any help would be cool. please.
Apr 28, 2007 | 5:31 am

Anonymous wrote:

Can’t wait to try it. Sounds like fun…
Apr 30, 2007 | 3:34 pm

perpetual wrote:

There’s an idea i’ve had a while ago. It’s gonna sound crazy but hear me out. A hydrogen battery harnesses the energy of H2 combusting as it passes through a platinum filter, making water (H2O). What if this water and energy were then used for electrolysis and the gases were then reused for hydrogen combustion, ad infinitum.

I know this is like perpetual motion, and that sustained electrolysis requires a large amount of power, but still i’m wondering if it makes at least a bit of sense.

PS: I’m in 12th grade, and I dont expect this to be viable, so please go easy on the reviews.
May 2, 2007 | 10:40 am

lostlink007 wrote:

i am conducting experiments with electrolysis and was hoping that someone knows of any efficient methods of getting a high hydrogen gas output. information about specific metals, alloys, chemicals, and compounds in combination is highly appreciated.

thank you,
Max S
May 2, 2007 | 6:04 pm

Teslaman wrote:

I have conducted experements with solar cells and electrolysis and one of the things I noticed was that solar cells wired paralell produce more h2. Also, I was wondering if you could have something homemade to harness the back to h2o reaction. I was also thinking a h2o powered tennis ball mortar would be cool.
May 2, 2007 | 7:07 pm

Attempting Reason wrote:

Graphite rods? Where am I supposed to get some of those? All I have is a bunch of pencils :D. I loved this demonstration in high school chem class. Try stringing two batteries together.
May 11, 2007 | 6:21 am

making water wrote:

how do you burn the 2 gases together to form water and is there a way of doing it safely?
May 11, 2007 | 6:46 am

water boi wrote:

is there a safe way to make water with the bi products of electrolysis?
May 13, 2007 | 8:44 am

wondering wrote:

If someone could reply to perpetual’s idea of the “infinite” hydrogen battery that would be great because I am very curious to see if it would work.
May 13, 2007 | 4:53 pm

Rectifier Man wrote:

We make 2000 tonnes of chlorine per day. The hydrogen we burn to raise steam and the sodium makes caustic soda 1.1 tonnes of 50% for every tonne of chlorine. This process consumes over 8000 megawatts per year. The bill for that is also mega.
May 18, 2007 | 2:35 am

hmm wrote:

i read somewhere that you can replace salt with little balls of scrunched up aluminium foil. no chlorine gas, and Al2O3 gas isnt dangerous for you
May 20, 2007 | 12:13 pm

submaC wrote:

The spelling and use of net speak in this kinda makes me cry on the inside. Due to the nature of what is being talked about. Science, I know that English might not be some peoples Strong Suit, but still.. Learn to Spell! You have all the time in the world to type this out.
May 22, 2007 | 7:54 pm

re: perpetual wrote:

that reaction could not go on to infinity. If you have taken physics, you must surely remember the 2nd law of themo, entropy must always increase in the overeall picture. In your idea, this translates into heat generated through electrolysis, and the inablility to have a perfectly effiecient combustion engine/fuel cell. this waste heat cannot be collected in any viable method. PS, i too am a high school senior.
May 22, 2007 | 8:01 pm

fun…. wrote:

Today in chem class, my teacher allowed me and a friend to electrolyse NaOH. This reaction should have produced solid sodium and oxygen gas. The liquid became a black solution, however, but had a silvery tint to it. If some of it was transfered to a container of water and phenolphtalein (i think thats how its spelled) it turned it dark purple and emitted a gas (H2). We were using graphite electrodes and 30v from a power supply. Does anyone know what the black solution was from? PS. i heard something about using a metal crucible, and connnecting that to the positive terminal of the power supply. I used a ceramic crucible. Could this have contributed to the blackness?
May 29, 2007 | 12:25 am

us4 wrote:

This was great, we tried this with a 24 volt (plz be carefull) then saved it in a 5 gallon drum, very fun it was indeed!
May 31, 2007 | 8:55 pm

Taylor wrote:

if u catch the bubbles that come out in a beaker or something and put a flame to it, it will light and it makes a weird noise if in a beaker
Jun 1, 2007 | 2:08 pm

RW wrote:

I’ll be quoting some people here and pointing out some horrible fallacies and other stuff. Also, I’ll be answering all the questions I can. Enjoy, it’s long!

First off: SciGuy.
“I would definitely not recommend trying to store and or compress it yourself… …Bottom line don’t do it, its not safe if you don’t have the proper equipment and education.”
I mean, really now, no one here has the equipment to liquify hydrogen. -262.9°C? Yeah, not happening.

I’m not even going into your “baking soda does emit Chlorine gas.” That’s just silly. If you want a safe electrolyte, use sulfuric acid. I’m not sure where you’re going pick it up, but I’m sure you guys are creative. I’ve heard salt solutions under 4 Molar are safe. I can’t back it up though. As far as I’m concerned, Oxygen has a lower reduction potential, so it will be oxidized easier. Take it or leave it, I’d use Baking Soda to be safe.

The smartest thing you said was don’t use stainless steel. Use inert electrodes such as carbon or platinum. (carbon rods are in D-Cell batteries or you can get them at your local art shop)

“Finally electrolysis of water using DC current is a fairly unproductive method”
I’m not sure what you’re saying here, but I hope you’re not hinting at using AC. Anyhow, DC current is the best way to do it.

To jalopi:
“hmm: i didn’t really read all of the replies, BUT, HCl is a confusing molecule. AS A LIQUID, and ONLY a LIQUID, does it take the form of HydroChloric acid, HOWEVER, as a gas, it exists as Hydrochloride, a compound which does not have the properties of Hcl.”
While the gas HCl is not an acid, as soon as it touches water it will form H+ and Cl- ions. Which by definition is an acid, and is very painful in the eyes.

To hydro-boost saturn:
To begin with, you will always be using more energy than you will get out of burning hydrogen. In reality, you are being less ‘green’ or ecologically friendly, but I doubt that’s your main concern. At the current price of electricity, you may or may not be actually saving money. I, however, am too lazy to crunch the numbers for someone else.

Now, onto your questions: “im gonna capture the gases”
Have fun trying to compress and store either of the two. As SCIGUY pointed out earlier, hydrogen leaks through even the strongest of containers because it is so small. That’s all I have to say about that.

“would hooking it to my alternator”
No, alternators produce AC. As I said earlier, DC is what we want.

To perpetual:
As you said, it is a perpetual motion device and will therefore not work by the 2nd law of thermodynamics. But let’s take a closer look. Electrolysis consumes more energy than you will ever get by burning H2, even if you captured all of the energy released. (which is impossible) Plus converting that heat energy to electricity will further reduce the efficiency. In a nutshell, it won’t work.

To: lostlink007/Max S:
“was hoping that someone knows of any efficient methods of getting a high hydrogen gas output.”
Try Zinc in HCl Approx. 65 grams of Zinc will yield 22 liters of H2. But you need at least 2/3 of a liter of 3 molar HCl

To Attempting Reason:
“Graphite rods? Where am I supposed to get some of those?”
Art supply store.

To Quinn:
“Im comparing electrolytes for science fair, Copper sulphate and Sodium Sulphate. I just don’t get why Sulphate does not take part in the reaction of Copper Sulphate in an aqueous solution.”
It could have something to do with Sulfate’s reduction potential or lattice energy. I’m not completely sure. But as a rule of thumb, polyatomic ions are usually spectator ions.

To whoever this was:
“Look guys i have this chem. project where i’m performing electrolysis of H2O with NaCl (table salt wud do right?) dissolved in it. Im takin 3 cases: one with C electrodes , one with Cu, and one with Fe. Can anyone give me the ionic/net/overall reactions for the last 2? IN the experiments i got blue and yellow solutions , but i still cant figure rxns out.”
Yes, NaCl is table salt.
For Cu: Cu(s) + H2O(l) -> Cu+2(aq) + H2(g) + O2(g)
For Fe: Fe(s) + H2O(l) -> Fe+2 or +3?(aq) + H2(g) + O2(g)

To hmm:
“i read somewhere that you can replace salt with little balls of scrunched up aluminum foil. no chlorine gas, and Al2O3 gas isn’t dangerous for you”
You need aqueous ions to do this, I don’t think aluminum foil does that. Also, I’m pretty sure Al2O3 isn’t a gas, and won’t be formed.

To fun….:
“Today in chem class, my teacher allowed me and a friend to electrolyse NaOH. This reaction should have produced solid sodium and oxygen gas. The liquid became a black solution, however, but had a silvery tint to it. If some of it was transfered to a container of water and phenolphtalein (i think thats how its spelled) it turned it dark purple and emitted a gas (H2). We were using graphite electrodes and 30v from a power supply. Does anyone know what the black solution was from? PS. i heard something about using a metal crucible, and connecting that to the positive terminal of the power supply. I used a ceramic crucible. Could this have contributed to the blackness?”
The reaction does not produce solid sodium because water is more easily reduced. To produce sodium (and of course chlorine) you need pure molten salt and a strong power source. And a expensive building designed for it, and probably a license.
The solution turned dark purple because phenolphthalein is a color indicator in the basic range (pH of 7-10 I think)
Not sure about the blackness. Perhaps some graphite?
Jun 5, 2007 | 1:06 pm

fun…. wrote:

I did it a few more times, by the way, im talking about liquid NaOH (~300C) not aqueous. It works better if you use metal electrodes, and preferably a metal crucible on the positive terminal of the power source. If done correctly, liquid sodium sticks to the wire attacked to the negative electrode. This way worked much better (however, iron hydroxide also was produced). Verification that it was sodium was the fact that it either bubbled in water, or ignited, creating yellow sparks. Afterwards the water was basic. Yeah, the graphite rods from the earlier try were all eaten up and corroded. This reaction makes sodium, oxygen gas, and steam. Once, the sodium ignited in air and burned as i pulled an electrode out.
Jun 17, 2007 | 1:33 am

SG wrote:

RW,
You had a lot of corrections and comments but I did notice a mistake in one of your comments.
“No, alternators produce AC. As I said earlier, DC is what we want.”
You are correct that an alternator produces AC current but it passes through diodes to convert it to DC voltage so that the components in the car can use the electricity. So technically yes, you can create a hydrogen generator that runs off the current produced by your car. There are several types of these generators out on the web and some have reaped significant gas milage benifits. So to who ever it was that wanted to look into this I suggest that you browse around on the internet you can even obtain plans for putting one together.
Jun 18, 2007 | 4:22 pm

rtopityo wrote:

hey i was wondering, can you use a larger battery… (D OR C)
Jun 21, 2007 | 8:29 pm

trying to get some work done wrote:

I read all the way down this post, I saw some outlandish/reckless sugestions and heard some practical (and some not so practical) answers.
The first thing that I would contribute to the discourse, is that for anyone who wishes to apply the electrolytic production of hydrogen/oxygen using commercially available sodium bicarbonate (the major brand) should know that the box is labeled “ingredients: sodium bicarbonate” but, the substance that is inside actually contains a certain amount of sodium chloride and over prolonged electrolysis in a confined space will produce *some* chlorine gas, which is heavier than oxygen and hydrogen and will accumulate in the tank/flashback arrestor chamber, and depending on the amount inhaled may make you *somewhat* sick/dead. Aside from that, have some common sense, know what you are doing and the possible consequences before you do it. There is a ISO/NASA document on safety procedures for handling hydrogen (google it, read it). Particularly, as specified, blow-out rings and fine (copper) screens work, use them. If you want to use a “wall brick” and naked wires in water, go ahead and try that, who am I to tell you not to : ). If you have a 2 liter full of hydrogen and don’t know how to dispose of it, open the cap.
Jun 26, 2007 | 2:35 pm

bang… fun. wrote:

i have a battery that is a 9.6 recharg battery w/ 1,000 mha i am going to use it was a energy sourse. is that safe. will the gasses explod? that is what i mean thanx :) great topic
Jun 30, 2007 | 12:46 pm

RW wrote:

SG,
My apologies. But for using it for improving MPG, it will take more energy to produce than it will yield during combustion. The only reason it’s still cheaper is because of the low price of electricity. I suggest going out and buying a electricity car for around town or a hybird for general use if you have the money.
rtopityo,
C and D batteries only have a larger source of power, but are not stronger. Look for more voltage.
you dont need to konw who I am,
Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2.
Jul 2, 2007 | 1:56 am

experienced guy wrote:

A good electrolyte that nobody has really mentioned yet is sodium hydroxide, otherwise known as caustic soda or lye. It’s not good if u touch it but it works well and doesn’t give off chlorine.
Jul 9, 2007 | 2:11 pm

Oreyeon wrote:

Might I also add that I use straight tap water, with no electrolytes.
Jul 10, 2007 | 6:08 pm

NaCl wrote:

Commercial brand salt also has calcium silicate in it (read the ingredients) to prevent caking. This could affect the electrolysis. When i saturated it with “salt” a blue precipitate slowly formed during electrolysis. Is the silicate becoming silicon dioxide(glass) and turns blue because of impurities in tap water?
Jul 11, 2007 | 10:48 pm

alex10819 wrote:

The chlorine does NOT get separated… it’s basic electrolysis, only the Hydrogen and Oxygen are pulled out because they require the lowest amount of voltage. 2Cl+ -> Cl2 requires more voltage than 0-2 => 02

(No superscripts, sorry)
Jul 19, 2007 | 6:12 pm

NaCl wrote:

Run the electolysis with saturated solution. collect the gasses. smell them. It will smell like pool water. This is the smell of chlorine gas. Ive tried it before, and many reputable sources online also agree.
Jul 28, 2007 | 1:26 pm

Barok wrote:

is it posible to develop a hydrogen-fired power plant?
Most of plants here in our country uses hydroelectric power.
The problem is, there’s an inuficient water in our dams, cause of dry spell and i think we can’t give much expectation’s in fuel and coal for much cost and pollution.
I’ve red lot of faq’s in our government site’s concerning power interuptions cause of the said dry spell.
there’s an idea comes out of my mind that if WATER (H or O2) can run a vehicle, why not try it to generate electricity, as substitute for the above sources.
Is it posible?

(sorry for my words, i cant do much english, thanks)
Jul 31, 2007 | 1:25 pm

cynori and im 12 wrote:

hey can you use this for breathing under water
Aug 2, 2007 | 12:40 am

cynori and im 12 wrote:

hey aren’t you also seperating the atoms of the baking soda becuse if the baking soda =NaHCO3 and watter =H2O then wouldent you get the same amount or even more Oxygen then hydrogen?
Aug 10, 2007 | 10:15 pm

RW wrote:

cynori,
1) Yes, you could use the oxygen for breathing underwater. But, you will become very light-headed from breathing pure oxygen.

2)You are only separating the water. The baking soda only serves to produce ions which will allow for conductivity. Destilled, Deionized water will not conduct electricity. Tap water does, but poorly because of the relatively few ions.

Barok,
It takes electricity to electrolize water (separate to gaseous hydrogen and oxygen). You could burn this to produce electricity, but unless you have an efficiency over 100% in your generator (and you don’t, it defies the laws that we currently follow… Side note: not criminal laws but laws of science). In other words, it takes more energy than you get, with the same result as what you started with. (Electricity and water become less electricity and water.
Aug 16, 2007 | 3:55 pm

The Robbs wrote:

I just did this in my basement, and have been trying to do it for a couple days now. I did this in school with a low ampage, maybe 100mA, or whatever comes from a 6v battery, and it was pretty cool. Once I had maybe 250ml of the hydrogen/oxygen mixture, I lit it. It was… AWESOME. My mom came down and asked if everyone was okay, (me) and I said everything was fine; I was just covered in a NaC2 and water solution.
I have one question, would it be possible to get equal amounts of H & O if you used hydrogen peroxide? thats all
Aug 20, 2007 | 8:34 am

atelios wrote:

Some people seem to have a good knowledge of chemistry here. This is my question: How much hydrogen gas (in liters) will be generated from water (using the process of electrolysis) per kilowatt-hour of electrical power you put into the electrodes? Many people have talked about adding chemicals to the water to increase the effectiveness. But I guess I can’t allow that because I am querying about a hypothetical setup where photovoltaic cells would continuously generate hydrogen from water, not a one-time deal. So the water would be fed in as it is used up. Does anyone know the answer to this question?
Oct 4, 2007 | 7:30 am

RoBoy wrote:

I tried electrolysis on my chemistry experimental lessons and it was fun. but we used just a little quantity of water too… Salt was the catalyst we used… It was fun anyway and we didn’t detected any presence of any Hydrochloric Acid… hf
Nov 8, 2007 | 10:33 pm

Hellscream wrote:

I made an electrolysis rig consisting of two giant metal plates spaced about half an inch apart, with a full wave rectified wall voltage applied to them (one is ground, the other is around +84 vRMS). This produces hydrogen quite quickly without the use of salt or production of chlorine gas.
This is not safe. However, if you know what you are doing around electricity and know how electricity behaves and have experience working with it, you can do this without putting yourself in danger. I won’t tell you how to make a rectifier or even what that is because if you have to ask what that means you don’t know enough to be safe while messing around with this stuff. Use your own judgement, don’t be an idiot. You can look this stuff up easily online, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
Nov 22, 2007 | 2:03 pm

eletro man wrote:

if u put hydgen in a ballon it will float but its very flamable the germans used it in the zeplins over brittan in ww1
Dec 10, 2007 | 3:41 pm

coneeffect wrote:

what is the correct , or best ratio of water to sodium hydroxide for the production of hydrogen ?
Dec 12, 2007 | 8:40 am

Jaythedogg wrote:

Also, don’t use salt, it’s by-product is chlorine gas, which is toxic.
i.e. deadly
Jan 23, 2008 | 4:14 pm

hI wrote:

How do you seperate them in containers? I’m intrigued.
Jan 25, 2008 | 1:39 am

Robby wrote:

I think you put small bottles over the electrodes.look for bubbles coming off them and put your bottles over each one. I’m not sure which bottle has the hydrogen in it though.
Feb 3, 2008 | 3:14 pm

reym wrote:

using a test tube on both rods can contain the bubbles produced by each. The bubbles produce on one rod is hydrogen and the other is oxygen. Which produces h2 the positive or the negative node? Is the hydrogen produced is same as deuterium (heavy hydrogen/water)? When test if both gases are flammable, It produces a popping sound when fire was introduced. Can the hydrogen product of h2O electrolysis be a substitute for LPG?
Feb 13, 2008 | 2:54 pm

4 a science project wrote:

how would a person go about capturing the released hydrogen once you split the water?
Feb 14, 2008 | 5:00 pm

4/a/sci/proj wrote:

the carbon rods that are supposed to be good (best that you can use except for platinum) , RW wrote that a person that wanted to go about getting these would go to an art store or get them from a D battery. Is he referring to chopping the battery up and finding them inside? Even though that doesnt sound to safe I guess ill just do it cuz its cheaper. But if sum1 could help me figure that out and how to capture the hydrogen energy. When i say capture it i dont mean 4 any amount of time just to burn it right away to prove that it is hydrogen in an oral science report.
Feb 19, 2008 | 4:29 am

hydrogen user wrote:

alright guys im an apprentice electrician car freak and part geek.and ive been playing with this stuff for about 3 years(im only 18)and i run my car on part hydrogen throught electrolysis.now it does work and it gets me another 100 or 150 km per tank of fuel(around 49 liters i get 650 is plus easily in a 2 litre 86 toyota celica compare to the 550 normalish with out electrolysis)now figure out how im costing more energy then im gaining.all electrolysis is is transforming one substance to a more usable substance.like crude oil to unlead petrol or diesel.or like putting a super charger on a car.it uses a bit of power to make more power possible.so you can run a car on this stuff from a battery or alternator,its been done.i use two stainless tubes(one inside the other with insulating them and electrifying them.)the pipes are spaced quite far apart(around 2 cm each side) and i use baking soda(Cause it doesn’t pollute the hydrogen and leaves it explosive).i just capture the gas in a tube and reduce the tube and run it from my boot to my engine and since its fuel injected the computer figures its running rich and leans off the fuel but the same power if not a little more is still produced.im working on a better model and hopping for a much better result and with only tap water. i believe that many plates of stainless steel(stainless don’t rust)that have scratched surfaces, placed as close together as possible with out shorting and have one at one end the positive terminal and the opposite side end the negative terminal with all the middle ones just neutral plates.and apparently if you go ac and play with frequencies you can get a better result if you can get the resonant frequency supplied(usually around 10 khz to 250 khz)but i can’t find easily accessible frequency generators.so help would be appreciated
Feb 27, 2008 | 1:34 am

Hey Hydrogen User wrote:

There is NO way you are making enough hydrogen to run a car in a device that is small enough to fit in a car. You’d have to haul a trailer loaded with batteries and have a hydrogen generator which is extremely efficient (meaning LARGE). That takes A LOT of Amperage to get it to generate anywhere near enough hydrogen to run a car.
Mar 4, 2008 | 2:15 am

hydrogen user wrote:

i didn’t say i ran it on it i said i mixed it.and it adds 100 km’s per tank of fuel..with no batteries or anything extra
Mar 4, 2008 | 2:26 am

hydrogen user wrote:

and also just to note the unit is about 300 ish mm high and around 80 mm wide.so mr doubt try it your self and see if what i am saying is true…go on its not that much effort or money..it probly cause me 40 ish dollars(australian) and a few hours work…but to make it cheaper for you and probly better.i suggest you get two stainless steel plates about 1 or two mm thick and cut them to fit in a plastic tub and use zip ties or cable ties(what ever you like to call them) and tie them together and use one or to to seperate them from shorting and hook them up as one + and one -. close the tub and seal it(air tight works best)and use a fitting to go to the air intake just after the air filter.this works on efi(fuel injected)cars
Mar 19, 2008 | 8:46 am

Shawn wrote:

Is it the voltage or current that affects the rate of electrolysis, will a 1.5V cell work instead? 9 volt cells don’t come common here
Mar 23, 2008 | 9:18 pm

Ben wrote:

I knew I smelt chlorine…. I’ll use baking soda now

just put 6 or 8 AAs together in series but one will work just maybe really slow.

and add some dish soap to the water and it will bubble up and then you can light the bubbles. this works better when you mix the gases first and then blow the bubbles or else you get really small bubbles with O2 and H separated
Mar 28, 2008 | 9:07 pm

Pseudoname wrote:

re hydrogen user, being an electrician and obsessed car freak myself I really liked your hydrogen fuel boost idea and started thinking, I reckon making a gas generator in similar fashion to a car battary would do the trick, using no electrolyte but impure tap water and reducing the distance between plates would be the go, ill be having a crack at it myself
Mar 28, 2008 | 9:17 pm

CPUgenuis wrote:

yeah, i was talking to my chem teacher about this stuff, and he said use an acid to preform electrolosys, such as citric acid from lemons. will this work?
Apr 29, 2008 | 10:51 pm

Teh Lewzer wrote:

this is definitely a great experiment that has application in the real world.

easy way to trap gas particles= put wires through the bottom of your container and test tubes over the tops of the wires. as long as more H2O can get to the wires, the gasses will be trapped in the test tubes.

oh, just completely submerge the test tubes so that when you put them on the wires, there is only water in them. that way you can glance at them, and the one with the most water (least gas) is the one containing oxygen.
Apr 30, 2008 | 5:06 am

meeef wrote:

do the H2O electrolysis separate into diatomic particules at a specific place, meaning … in the electrolyte then attach to their respective electrode….or at one specific eletrode wich keeps its polarized particules attached to its self and the rest going to the other electrode….or all of the above.
There is also the 1.25V needed to dissociate an H2O molecule, how could that translate in the testing of different types or different quantities of electrodes and electrolytes as well as electrical input/output.
Apr 30, 2008 | 5:21 am

meeef wrote:

By the way Teh Lewzer, think its the contrary for knowing witch tube is going to be the oxygen. For every 9L of H2O there will be 8L-O2 and 1L-H2. Please correct me if I’m wrong on this, it would be alot more fun knowing there is more H2 produce then what I think. I guess that would eliminate the thought of having to store hydrogen instead of production on-demand.
May 24, 2008 | 6:57 am

Wanna Save the World and Screw the Saudis wrote:

First Note: The second law of thermodynamics always works.

Second Note: I haven’t tried this myself, but take ‘hydrogen user’ and others at their word when they report improved fuel efficiency using the car’s closed electrical system to generate hydrogen on board.

It is possible for both of these notes to be correct; points to the inefficient use of the power used to drive the alternator producing excess / normally unused electricity. Using this electricity to generate hydrogen increases the overall efficiency of the engine (i.e. conversion of the hydrogen in gasoline to useful work).

Again, I don’t know that this is the case. But if gasoline is the only energy source provided, then higher fuel efficiency (i.e. more miles per tank) is direct evidence that the system is extracting otherwise unused energy.

It would be interesting to know if there’s an impact on the lifetime of the alternator. Also, there must be a way to maximize this efficiency gain (where does the current load on the alternator exceed the efficiency gain or burn up the brushes / diodes).

There is so much work to be done to increase engine efficiency. We’ve spent the past 20 years moving the other direction, reducing efficiency to increase raw torque / horsepower. I think Chevy has the right idea with the Volt: Use a small, constant RPM engine to create electricity to power motors in the wheels.
May 24, 2008 | 9:00 pm

simplizer wrote:

” On board Hydrogen Generation (Run on Water) Using Electrolysis ”

Assume that you have a hefty power supply that will maintain 10 Volts across the electrodes at 75 Amps., also, for illustration, that the process of electrolysis was 100% efficient and that the engine using the hydrogen was also 100% efficient.

Using the laws of power, 10 Volts times 75 Amps. = 750 Watts which is = to 1HP. (746 watts) You can take it from there to get an idea how monstrous the equipment would have to be for any useful vehicle power.
May 24, 2008 | 9:41 pm

simplizer wrote:

By the way most wall “bricks” will produce less than 1 Amp. (maybe 15 watts) Also take a tip from Radio Shack, and their Hrdrogen Rocket, throw in a Vitamin C tablet for an electolyte!
I suspect any increase in mileage may be due in part to upsetting the cars computer by introducing the Hydrogen/ oxygen mix.
Most car alternators won’t produce 75 Amps. Any power used by other devices result in reduced mileage as the more power that is produced the harder it is to spin..
(no free lunch)
May 25, 2008 | 2:41 pm

cljon wrote:

I tried this and i also tried to collect the H2 and the Cl2. I got H2 fine but I could not capture any Cl2. The water also changed a greenish color, then a dark gold color. I used copper electrodes and not graphite. Any tips that will help me get more Cl2?

Also, what if I tried to electrolyze hydrochloric acid? Would I still get just H2 and Cl2 or something else?

Thanks!
May 26, 2008 | 9:51 pm

allaboutfuel! wrote:

the added fuel milage is due to the fact that we only use about 35% of the fuel we pump into our cars, te rest is burned in the cat-converter. when we give the cylender the added charg of h- we get closer to 80% burn. so we get more miles per gal. the best way is to seperate the o2 so that our ecm dosant see the added o2 and try to richen the mixture.
May 29, 2008 | 12:53 am

firth wrote:

The reason you get better gas mileage with an onboard hydrogen gas generator is because the alternator is wasteful. Looking for a real improvement in efficiency? Remove the middle man and remove the alternator. That will improve your gas usage much more than generating hydrogen to burn. The energy used to spin the alternator is greater than the energy you gain from buring the hydrogen generated.
May 29, 2008 | 5:52 pm

Air Pollution Guy wrote:

Ok, I’m 45 and I work for Air Pollution Control in Tennessee. I’m also a mechanic for the last 30 years or so.
First and foremost, you can run your car on Hydrogen. It’s proven.
Second, there is no need to store it.
Third, removing your alternator will not get you a net gain of much more than 2 or 3%. Removing your a/c compressor might. Removing your radiator fan will definately do a good job. But the net gain of removing the fan is offset by the fact that an electric fan will then be needed, causing a “load” on the alternator, increasing it’s consumption of horsepower.
Hers’s the easy fix, and after this, please go out and change the world.
Design yourself a small electrolysis rig that will mount on your firewall, under your hood. I like to use winshield washer containers.
After that is mounted, run a vacuum tube from the container to a vacuum intake port near the base of your throttle body.
Wire the device to your ignition switch so that it’s only on when the key is on. Voila! You start the car, the current begins producing hydrogen. It’s consumed as it’s being produced. The vacuum literally sucks it from the device and “assists” the combustion of the gasoline. And it does it remarkably well. Add platinum spark plugs and you introduce another catalyst. Each time the spark plug fires, it releases tiny particles of the plantinum electrode into the combustion.
Also, never use tap water. It contains chlorine and other unknown contaminants. Use distilled. If chlorine enters into the mix you will literally send acid into the engine oil and ruin your engine rather prematurely. Why? Because the pistons in your engine are set with three sets of rings to capture the combustion force. If the piston fit too snuggly in the cylinder, the resulting friction would fry your motor in minutes. So, some gas is escaped passed these ring sets. This gas is swirled in your engine oil and in and of itself mixes with the additives that make your oil 10-30. Thin as a 10 w but can carry the loaD OF a 30 w. This gas is normally re-captured through vacuum and your PCV valve. Anyway, hope that helps! Now go build one!
May 31, 2008 | 10:41 am

Observer wrote:

Has anyone tried Aspartame to increase nucleation of the cathode and anode? Got one of those crazy ideas watching Myth busters on Google video, it was the series about Diet coke and Mentos..
Jun 1, 2008 | 5:47 pm

Mr. Guy wrote:

I would want to know that types of wires or materials are necessary to produce electrolicis with a battery of 12 volts.
I am experiencing, and it interests me the topic, and I read sincerely their article, and you are man that has a vast experience in this.
Could I make work a motor with HHO, obtained by electrolysis? or it is an entire commercial lie. ?
Jun 1, 2008 | 5:58 pm

Mr. ScGuy wrote:

Mr. I Need distilled water, or any type of drinkable water serves me.
That wire type needs to make the resistance.
If it is not a resistance, and they are parallel metals that type of metals.
That it forms or connection of metals gives the best results.
Thank you.
Jun 23, 2008 | 2:37 pm

Jon - Put away those ego’s… wrote:

What’s with all of the flat earth lawyers and bubble bee’s can’t flyer’s and their EGO’s here? I have read so many places how this or that can’t work because of such and such a law of physics (yes I know the laws and the reasoning behind them). Blind are the individuals who won’t ask “what if?” or say dogmatically “that can’t work”. That kind of thinking is not what is needed today. So many people ask questions on this topic and the real novices are treated like children by those who think they are “quite knowledgeable” and those who have a moderate understanding have their idea’s knocked down with techno-babble by those who feel an opportunity to stroke their own ego’s in a “challenge of knowing”
Let the novice’s ask questions - that’s how you learned and answer those with some knowledge with constuctive help and your own questions instead of trying to “win” all of the time. Brainstorming isn’t a war…
Jun 23, 2008 | 3:03 pm

Gas engine wrote:

Hi, I’m not knocking the the idea of supplementing a gasoline engine with Hydrogen but I would like to advise people that the by product of burning Hydrogen this way is water and there is no way to keep that out of the oil. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable removing your cars oil cap and pouring a cup of water into it then I’d advise that you don’t modify your engine to run on Hydrogen, even in small amounts. However, if you have an old vehicle and are not worried about that then perhaps using synthetic oil would help and the extra kick from the Hydrogen might increase the burn for the gasoline and make it all worthwhile - especially if your compression is fading. Just wanted to point this out to those who only have one car and rely on it…
Jun 24, 2008 | 5:29 am

rridiculous wrote:

If you all reflect the future of this country I am in serious doo doo.

Water oxidation can only be done using DC current. It takes 1.3 volts or so and as many amps as you can get. No anode in the world works, except platinum. Everything else disintegrates, quickly. There is no magic formula. To produce more, you need more raw electricity. None of the car hydro assist web sites are real for their price. You can’t do it for less then $1,000 or so in raw materials. You need a high output alternator, 2/0 gauge wire (two sizes bigger then 0 gauge) and platinum coated rods for anodes. Every other style out there that uses graphite or steel etc only works a few days or weeks under constant use. Most, a max of 20-30 hours. Platinum rods 1/2 inch in diameter, with 35 amps per rod in a 12 volts system, lasts 30-40 years.
Jun 26, 2008 | 12:25 am

?4U wrote:

must hydrogen have oxygen present, or does the engine already burn hydrogen out of gas in an equation that changes everything around creating C02,to create the power that we already enjoy along thousands miles of road? In reality, We are really using a chemical reaction in our battery, compression,explosion, and a freek property of copper-iron reaction to create magnetism that helps hydrogen and oxegen create power in the first place. Think, Just as much or more energy goes into making a stick of dynamite as will ever come out of it. The difference is we get to pick the time and it all happens at once. We really have a timing issue here I think, and electric motors are said to have 97% efficiency as compaired to gasoline 60% when factoring heat and all in. Some of our eff. (since I can’t spell either) is coming from less energy wasted in turning water pump to cool the motor,less time to cool the motor and cooler gas once inside the cylinder makes better carberation thats why they dry ice the intake manifold for racing. I don’t think we have found they right combination of elements yet. That’s why Japanes dude is driving water powered hydrogen car and your still pumping. He by the way is also not paying for electricity so when you find the right answer enjoy, but don’t talk to loud or all your tax deductions on gas tax will be voided when they start charging $3.89 a gallon for water insted of gasoline (ex. corn price due to alternative gas)and you can’t find nothing to drink. Waters a thousand feet where I stand.
Jun 26, 2008 | 1:13 am

?4U wrote:

Sorry,I forgot to say very insightful from the chemistry perspective. I work on cars for a hobby and build chips for a living. I didn’t realize I electroplate every day for a living. I thought I diffused because I worked in Diffusion. I also thought that perauna was for cleaning off particles. If anyone still knows what I am talking about, please explain to me what I really do.
Jun 28, 2008 | 1:13 pm

INTERESTED wrote:

ATTENTION AIR POLUTION GUY….INTERESTED IN YOUR EXPERIENCE AND OBVIOUS EXPERTISE….WHAT YOU OFFER UP IS FRANK AND TO THE POINT….CURIOUS….WHY NOT SEPERATE THE OXYGEN FROM THE HYDROGEN AND DUMP OFF THE OXYGEN AND ONLY VACUUM THE HYDROGEN (NEGATIVE SIDE) ONLY AS IT WILL HAVE ENOUGH OXYGEN AT ENTRY TO CARB OR INTAKE MANIFOLD….SECONDLY USE STAINLESS STEEL AS YOUR CONDUCTOR IN SANDWICHED SEPERATED PLATES…FINALLY….. WHY DRAIN OFF THE BATTERY WHEN YOU COULD GO DIRECT FROM ALTERNATOR AND PERHAPS 28 VOLTS OR MORE….OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE AND I LIKE HOW YOU DELIVERED YOUR INPUT….WOULD BE GRATEFUL TO GET MORE OF IT…..IN CLOSING ONE COULD GET FAR MORE HYDROGEN OUTPUT FROM POWER GENRATED BY A GENERATOR DRIVEN BY THE ENGINE ADN THEN ELECTRICALLY POWER A FREQUENCY GENERATOR WHICH IN TURN WOULD GENERATE MORE HYDROGEN ON DEMAND….YOUR THOUGHTS THANK….
Jul 2, 2008 | 4:11 am

Someperson wrote:

to NaCl:

Your solution turned blue because you are using copper electrodes, which having an electric current running through it reacts along with the rest of the stuff. It gives the stuff a green tint.
Jul 2, 2008 | 4:11 am

Someperson wrote:

*blue I mean
Jul 2, 2008 | 7:26 am

funwidcars wrote:

Hi,iv just made a electrolysis for my car still playing around with it at mo,it produces gas for a while then just seems to stop,even tho theres still plenty of activity on the cathode and anode,should i be using distilled water instead of de-ionized or is there another reason??
Jul 2, 2008 | 4:03 pm

Nuts wrote:

Adding electrolsis devices to a car and running the alternator to improve the gas milage is a waste. The device may increase your milage because you are also feeding a fine mist of water droplets into you engine intake. The fine mist is made because of the bubbling gas and is carried into the intake with the gas you are making. This is a a low cost way to improve gas milage. It is called water injection and has been used for many years. Has anybody tried an ultrasonic transducer (this is found in many small low cost humidifiers)to produce the water vapor after the engine is warm. I would not feed it into a cold engine. Feed that into you intake and watch your milage increases without the huge power draw and waste of engery.
Jul 14, 2008 | 1:11 am

HeartofDavid wrote:

And why does the negative terminal of the power source, in my case being a 9v and a 1.5v D battery,turn black and the positive terminal of the batteries turn green and dissolve. I understand that somehow the HCl eats away at it, but what specifically happens to the metal?

So if oxygen and hydrogen are both receiving electrons, then they should only be floating up to the top of the container from the negative terminal since its the terminal providing the electrons, but should not be bubbling from the positive terminal. but this sight says that side is producing hydrogen. (the faster producer of bubbles) the elements dont need protons..why is it bubbling then?
Basically: I dont understand why the positive terminal produces bubbles, because all the elements in the container have there needed protons, all they need to become stable (right???) are electrons which come from the negative terminal, what is the positive terminal doing bubbling?

And in that case why do you have to have the positive terminal anyways? if all the elements require are electrons in order for hydrogen to no longer depend on the two oxygen molecules and receive the electrons provided by the negative terminal?
I know im missing something, and i feel stupid even talking to ppl who, even the less intelligent, seem to have superior understanding about all this.. im just a kid who is interested in it all thought, and has been for too long, yet not long enough at all..lol(referring to numerous injuries and b/c of them, knowledge and experience) but i am missing something in all this.

Why do both terminals bubble if both hydrogen and oxygen require nothing but electrons apart from each other to separate.
Which leads to
Why do you need the positive one in the first place if your just supplying electrons?

and

what exactly causes the metal to corrode as it does, one green and one black?

(its got to be only one terminal supplying electrons b/c (i quote the instructions) “You should see tiny bubbles on both of the electrodes. The one that produces bubbles faster is producing hydrogen.”
So its got to be only one. Whats the second one doing? i know theres a reason for it all, i just dont understand how it all works. the electron trading procces and why the positive provider is essential?