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In spite of the fact, that hydrogen is a very common element and it exists freely in the nature (combined with oxygen, of course), it has to be made. It doesn’t appear itself. Hydrogen is usually made by separating it from water, biomass, or natural gas, in other words, from domestic resources. Although, separating (creating) hydrogen seems such a simple task, it is extremely expensive. Nowadays scientists are trying to figure out ways that can make this process cheaper.
There have been discovered, that even some algae and bacteria give off hydrogen.
At home, everyone can try making hydrogen. You only need two batteries, two paper clips, and a cup of salt water. Battery has to be connected with paperclips and the other ends of the paperclips should be put in water and you'll get bubbles of gas coming off both wires. One is oxygen, the other is hydrogen. Putting a tablespoon of salt in the water greatly increases the conductivity, and hence the rate at which gas is formed, or you can just use two or more batteries – that will also speed up the process. Bear in mind that you can build quite high voltages with just a handful of batteries. In fact, when you get your hands wet with salt water, even a single 9V battery can give you a quite painful shock. So think before you act.
Comment by: Stan Meyer
2007-05-16 22:06 | If gasoline is a mixture of five hundred additives why is it so expensive to make hydrogen?? The first scientific decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen, by electrolysis, was done in 1800 by William Nicholson, an English chemist. In 1805, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Alexander von Humboldt showed that water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen (by volume). In the 1500's, a German physician named Paracelsus discovered that when iron reacts with sulfuric acid, a flammable gas is given off. Exactly how he made that discovery is not known, but I suspect that he had a candle burning close by and made the discovery very suddenly, by accident. Over the years it was found that many mineral acids would react with metals to form a flammable gas, but it was not until 1766 that one Henry Cavendish concluded that the mysterious gas was a distinct substance, and it was several years later that Antoine LaVoisier in France gave this material the name " hydrogen." For a long time, the gas could easily be prepared exactly as Paracelsus did it, which is the same way students prepare hydrogen in laboratories today. A mineral acid such as hydrochloric acid is added to a metal such as zinc. The resulting gas is captured in an inverted glass jar. I have compiled a list of successful inventors! Here they are! Andriah Puharich Archie blue Bob Boyce Carl Cella Charles H. Garrett Daniel Dingel Hector Pierre Vaes Nakamatsu Yoshiro Sam Leslie Leach Stanley Meyer Steven Horvarth And a few other unidentified people!
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Comment by: someone
2007-09-15 14:23 | WHY IS IT EXPENSIVE???????????????????????????i need it for homework!
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Comment by: ANKUR SHARMA
2007-11-10 16:45 | IT IS TO GOOD METHOD OF MAKINGM HYDROGEN BUT THE EASIER ONE IS BY ALUMINIUM FOIL ,NAOH & WATER
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Comment by: Larry Robinson
2008-06-16 10:49 | Do NOT follow the above instructions. You could poison yourself.
The information above is WRONG. The salt enters into the reaction. The other gas is poisonous CHLORINE, not oxygen. The electrolyte turns into sodium hydroxide (lye), and the oxygen goes into the hydroxyl ions in that.
To get hydrogen and oxygen, the electrolyte can't be a chloride salt or a carbonate. The usual electrolyte for water decomposition is dilute sulfuric acid, because it requires more energy to decompose than the hydroxyl ion needs.
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Comment by: Ayurzana Tsog
2008-06-18 14:50 | I'm interested in to how exactly Hydrogen is obtained and how can it be made in home environment, if it isn't dangerous and hazardous.
Can anyone tell me!
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