26 Oct
2015
26 Oct
'15
8:21 a.m.
On Oct 26, 2015, at 10:09 AM, Paul Koning <paulkoning at comcast.net> wrote:
OK, so a couple years back, I wanted to have some chemistry fun with the kids. So, I got
out the jump cables, clamped them onto some aluminum foil, stuffed the foil into test
tubes, filled the tubes with water, inverted both of them in the same basin and sprinkled
in a little salt, cranked up the car, and sure enough ? bubbles started evolving off the
foil and collecting in the test tubes.
Just as expected, one tube was filling with gas twice as fast as the other.
Just as expected, when we held that tube over a candle, it went ?WHEEP? and got hot (the
flame was barely visible).
Um? the OP had a 12V supply, right? How *do* you keep from electrolyzing your coolant in
this apparatus?
- Mark
PS. this is a cool experiment but suitable cautions apply. The most subtle is: not too
much salt, lest you start evolving chlorine gas instead of hydrogen. Flammable to
explosive gasses, 12V sparks, etc. etc? be careful if you try to replicate this.
I concur. Tap
water may have contaminants (such as chlorine) that will cause electrical leakage.
Sure, but so what? A dummy load is supposed to have electrical leakage. All that water
contamination would do is reduce the effective resistance of your load by a hair.