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How to Build an Electrolyzer

Electrolysis is the process of using electricity to produce a chemical reaction by running electricity through a substrate. An electrolyzer is a device for conducting electrolysis. An electrolyzer is a pair of electrodes connected to the poles of a battery. The electrodes can be nearly any object that will conduct electricity, such as screwdrivers, nails or silverware. To demonstrate how electrolysis works, you can build an electrolyzer using just a few dollars of materials.

Things You'll Need

9-volt battery
Spool of copper magnet wire
2 - 3-inch nails
Electrical tape
Rubber gloves
Table salt
Matches

Instructions

- 1
  Cut two two-foot segments from your spool of magnet wire. Wrap one segment around the negative terminal and one around the positive terminal, leaving 18 inches of slack for each segment. Secure the segments to their respective terminals using electrical tape.
- 2
  Wrap the unsecured end of each segment of magnet wire around your nails. Each segment has its own nail. Wrap the wire around the nail in the coils, so that each coil touches the ones above and below it. Do not allow the coils to overlap as this interferes with electrolysis. You may secure the coil at the top and bottom of each nail using electrical tape. These are your two electrodes. The nail attached to the positive terminal is the cathode while the nail attached to the negative current is the anode.
- 3
  Put on your rubber gloves to avoid electric shock. Fill a glass with water and mix table salt into a glass of water until it becomes foggy: salt is an electrolyte that speeds up the reaction by increasing the water's conductivity. Suspend the nails in the glass. Do not allow the nails to touch one another, as this will short out the battery and may cause electric shock. Within a few seconds, bubbles will form around the anode. The current from the 9-volt is separating hydrogen from oxygen, which shows that electrolysis is occurring.
- 4
  Light a match and hold it close to the surface of the water where the hydrogen bubbles are breaking the surface. You will hear a crackling noise. This is the sound of tiny bubbles of flammable hydrogen burning up when they strike the match.

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