Hydrolysis 2

Experiment No. 6

Hydrolysis 2

Experiment: To separate hydrogen and oxygen using graphite from two pencils.

Materials:

You will need:

2 pencils
Two lengths of wire
1 x 9 volt battery
Water
Salt
Water
A cardboard disk
Jam Jar

Method:

1) Half fill the jam jar with warm water and add lots of salt.

2) Sharpen both ends of your pencils.

3) Put your card on top of the jar and poke your pencild through.

4) Attach the wires on to each of the terminals of the battery using sellotape.

5) Attach each wire to the top of each of the pencils.

Result: After a while, bubbles should appear on the nibs of each of the pencils in the water.There should be more bubbles on one of the pencils than the other.

Conclusion: There are two molecules of hydrogen to one molecule of oxygen in water. The oxygen and the hydrogen separate with the electricity - the bubbles form around the nibs. This is why there are twice as many bubbles on one nib as the other.

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