Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!rutgers!dayton!jad
From: jad@dayton.UUCP (John A. Deters)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: electrolysis of water
Keywords: electrolysis
Message-ID: <6327@dayton.UUCP>
Date: 21 Dec 88 17:15:43 GMT
References: <2479@ddsw1.MCS.COM> <849@inuxm.UUCP> <7395@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Reply-To: jad@dayton.UUCP (John A. Deters)
Organization: Dayton-Hudson Dept. Store Co.
Lines: 20

In article <7395@watcgl.waterloo.edu> awpaeth@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Alan Wm Paeth) writes:
>In article <849@inuxm.UUCP> micl23@inuxm.UUCP (W E Miller) writes:
>>> 
>>> How do I use electricity (from a battery-6V lantern type) to separate
>>> water into hydrogen and oxygen?...
>I used to use a sawed-off Purex bottle with a Copper (tubing) electrode and a
>Zinc bar, both wired to an old Selenium stack auto battery charger. I suppose
>graphite electrodes would have been fine.
> ... description and caution deleted ...
>The suggested fix: use a Carbonate salt (eg, baking or washing soda).
>     /Alan Paeth
I found an even more interesting solution to use than plain water:
Well-used photographic fixer.  Photographic fixer works by removing the
light-sensitive silver from the paper, so the silver compound remains
in the fixer bath.  If you use fixer, you will discover that one of your
terminals (the anode, I think) will turn silver colored.  You can actually
peel off the flakes of silver that form on the terminal.  (Well, when you're
in high school, these things are pretty neat.)

-john