Get More Hydrogen from Your Water

Overview

Objectives/Goals Electrolysis must have an electrolyte in order to work. But what factors affect an electrolyte's effectiveness? My hypothesis is that it is either the pH of the solution or the ion concentration. Methods/Materials I tested 6 different electrolytes three times each, each trial with a different quantity of electrolyte. The following electrolytes were used: sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and isopropyl alcohol. During each trial, I measured the pH of the solution, the temperature of the water, and the mL of gas produced in 5 minutes with a 9-volt charge. A trial with plain tap water was also performed as a control. Results Two of my electrolytes did not produce any gas: isopropyl alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. I hypothesized that this was that this was because they did not ionize in water. I confirmed this hypothesis with one trial of sucrose, which I knew did not ionize. When I made a graph of gas production vs. electrolyte molarity that excluded the unproductive electrolytes, all of the points fell on a relatively straight line except for sodium bicarbonate. When an estimated percent of ionization was applied to the sodium bicarbonate, in a graph of mL gas vs. ion concentration measured in moles per liter, all of the points fell on a relatively straight line, demonstrated by a regression coefficient of 0.89. Conclusions/Discussion My results did not explain my first hypothesis because many substances did not change the pH but did produce gas. My second hypothesis explained all of my results. Gas production is directly proportional to the ion concentration in moles per liter, and the type of electrolyte is irrelevant.

Awards (1)

• Third Place

Competition history

• CSEF 2009 Chemistry · Entry J0529

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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