(3220) Hydrogen Gas
Steven Lee
North Shore

Abstract


Purpose:

To test which of the following two compounds; lead or cooking foil, will produce either a hydrogen or chlorine gas.

Procedures:

1. Wrap one exposed end of one wire around the pencil lead and cover the joint with tape. Attach the other end to the positive terminal of the battery.
Cover the other exposed end of the second wire with foil and attach its other end to the negative terminal. 2. Fill a bowl with water and mix in as much salt as you can. Fill two spice jars with the solution and turn them upside down in the salt water solution. Arrange the wires so that foil tipped wire is inside one jar and the lead tipped wire is inside the other jar.

Summary:

The jar with the foil produce 5 cm of hydogen gas. The jar with the lead did not produce any gas. Conclusion:

Through my research I learned that Hydrogen is very flammable. I removed the jar with the cooking foil in it from the water. This is the jar that I thought might have the Hydrogen in it. When testing my experiment, I held jar #1 straight up and down because Hydrogen is lighter than oxygen. Then my dad held a lighter close to the opening in the jar. Suddenly the gas ignited with a little explosion. This happened so quickly that I could not capture it on camera. That was when I knew that the gas with the foil was Hydrogen. The second jar with the pencil lead had no Chlorine gas in it. I think that there was no gas in this jar because today pencil lead is made of graphite and does not contain lead anymore. I was glad that I did not produce chlorine gas because it is very poisonous and can be dangerous to humans.

Application:

Hydrogen is one of the cleanest fuels because when it burns the end result is water. Vehicles which use hydrogen would help to reduce the air pollution and global warming problems. One problem with using Hydrogen to power a vehicle is that it is very expensive to produce pure Hydrogen. The most common method to create Hydrogen for cars is using methane gas. Although burning Hydrogen is pollution-free, methane is a major problem to the greenhouse effect of global warming.