"I'm making hydroge.... " (gurgle gasp clunk)
DANGER! Do not try this at home. Breathing the
resulting gases can be fatal.
Many environmentalists claim that adding salt to water
"speeds" or "catalyzes" the electrolysis of water, to produce
hydrogen and oxygen with less energy. It does not speed the
reaction. It CHANGES the chemical reaction.
The original chemical reaction produced by an electric
current in pure water (with a sulfuric acid electrolyte added for
conductivity) is:
2 H2O + energy -> 2 H2 + O2
The hydrogen gas bubbles out of the water at the negative
electrode, and the oxygen gas bubbles out at the positive
electrode.
But when salt is added to the water, a completely different
chemical reaction takes place. The current takes apart the salt
with the water, producing different substances as products of the
reaction:
2 H2O + 2 NaCl + energy -> H2 + Cl2 + 2 NaOH
Instead of totally taking the water molecule apart, the
electricity finds it easier to take the salt apart, and then use
that to take one hydrogen atom out of the water. So, instead of
making breathable oxygen gas, it produces poisonous chlorine gas.
Chlorine is the gas the Germans used in World War I to kill enemy
soldiers, by burning their lungs.
The hydrogen gas bubbles out of the water at the negative
electrode, and the chlorine gas bubbles out at the positive
electrode. The sodium hydroxide left in the tank is a poison too.
If you pour it concentrated down the drain, it might eat the
drainpipe. (In diluted form, it is drain cleaner.)
Anyone trying to make large volumes of hydrogen could end
up poisoning himself and others.
Also note that only HALF of the hydrogen emerges as gas
when salt is added. The rest is locked up in the sodium
hydroxide.
The proper electrolyte to use for electrolysis of water
must take apart only the water. This means that it must meet
these specifications:
1.. It must not chemically change to produce a gas.
2.. It must not chemically change to produce a
precipitate.
3.. It must not be used up in the process.
4.. It must dissolve in water to produce charge carrier
ions.
5.. It must not oxidize.
6.. It must cause water to dissociate.
The usual electrolyte that meets these criteria is sulfuric
acid.
Learn more at:
http://www.geocities.com/midimagic@[EMAIL
PROTECTED]
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