OK, so I electrolyzed water into its flammable/explosive components: hydrogen and oxygen gases. My apparatus stored the gases in a balloon, which I removed and exploded. I made a video, and set it to some FFR music. My question is: how can I attach a video? The window that is supposed to tell me the acceptable sizes and extensions is broken for me, does anybody know what I can use? Thanks, as soon as I can post the video I'll explain the simple setup to make the balloons.
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How has it been 15 years -
RE: Exploding Balloons of Death and Destruction
doubt you can. FFR doesn't support the uploading of large files, nor of most extensions. I'd suggest getting someone to host it offsite and link it here. I haven't seen this particular experiment, although i've personally done many relating with fire and explosions. go chemistry
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RE: Exploding Balloons of Death and Destruction
Electrolysis is awesome, I'm interested in how you managed to get the gasses to fill the balloons without them being pushed back out. You can't just seal the balloons over the nodes or it stops the electron transfer... maybe you used a salt bridge?Comment
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RE: Exploding Balloons of Death and Destruction
That's so cool.
Where can you buy electrolysis stuff? Or is this just something you can do in chemistry because that's the only place where they have the equipment? I wouldn't know, I haven't taken Chemistry yet.
Oh wait you said it'll be in your explanation...Comment
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RE: Exploding Balloons of Death and Destruction
Here's my setup: I took a bottle of carbonated water and shoved two 10" nails (I tried carbon rods, but pencil leads split in the water and the rods from carbon-zinc batteries were too small.) up the bottom. I hot glued them in place to seal the holes and hold the nails upright. I used tap water to fill the bottle to the very top, to avoid diluting the gases. The balloon was stretched over the top of the bottle and taped tightly with electrical tape to seal it on. Finally, I attached a model train transformer to the nails, giving it 17 VDC of juice. Voilá, bubbles appear on both electrodes (nails). It takes about 5 hours for the balloon to stand upright, and after 14 hours I removed it. (I had minor leakage, it may have filled up faster without the leak.) I found all the materials sitting around my house. You can make a much smaller version using the carbon cores of carbon-zinc batteries (they usually say "extra heavy duty" on them) and a one pint poland springs water bottle. You can substitute a 9V battery for the transformer, but it will run out of juice and produces less current.
Then comes the fun part: explosions. If your balloon gets to be around 3 or 4 inches in diameter and is nice and taut, it should blow up nicely. Be sure to use long matches and wear eye protection. If you get your balloon to be fully inflated with the gases, you will probably need something longer than fireplace matches, you can tie one to a stick for extra distance. Film the explosion with a reasonably high fps camera. That way, you can freeze frame on the explosion and see it over again. If the balloon is not taut, it may burn instead, and the rubber will melt leaving a sticky black residue. As with all explosives, safety first and don't maim yourself.
I'm looking into hosting for my video, which shows the kind of fireball it produces for about a 15th of a second.
*edit* Here are pics from the movie. You pretty much get the idea, but the movie just takes it to the next level. Plus, the movie is in higher resolution with more detail.How has it been 15 yearsComment
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RE: Exploding Balloons of Death and Destruction
I know that this thread has been dead for a week.
Here's an update with a larger balloon and a sort of gif-video:
I'm thinking of trying to make a rocket powered by this stuff. Perhaps stuffing the balloon in a paper towel roll with fins? Other suggestions?
I know that the camera angle should have been wider on this movie, but you can get an idea of how big the flames were. I <3 flames. Actually, after the first explosion, the balloon popped again half a second later. I'm confused. Feast your eyes:
*removed to free upload quota space*How has it been 15 yearsComment
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RE: Exploding Balloons of Death and Destruction
Alright... Instead of a train transformer, you should look to see if you have a Car battery charger.
(I know it works, because we attempted to copper plate a metal bell. It would have worked, but our copper sulfate wasn't a high enough concentration)
Also, you might think of adding a little bit of salt to your water, so that you gain electrical current. (Just add a small sprinkle.)
WARNING. Do not let the battery be on if there is no balloon, or put more than a sprinkle of salt. (If you have hard water, we don't want you making any Chlorine gas, which you probably know, is lethal.)Comment
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Water ––> Rocket fuel
I made a smaller electrolysis thing and made chlorine gas, earlier. But what is that orange stuff that builds up on the anode (I think that's the one)? Must be some sodium compound, cuz the pure stuff reacts with water and is a metal. And, what's the danger in leaving it on without collecting the gas? It's a really smal amount of gas, and it won't ignite unless there's a somewhat high concentration of hydrogen.
I don't think I have a car battery charger, but I do have one for the lawn mower's starter battery. Perhaps that will have more than 17 VDC output?
Pictures of the electrolysis machine to be added later, as well as the adjustable k'nex launch rails I built for the rockets. Probably an update on this every couple days or so until I get bored with it (which could take a while).
*Update for any who care*
Yeah, the mower charger is 600 mA compared to the 450 and 500 mA of the other two things I previously had used. Realized it's not the voltage, but current that counts. It works faster now, with slightly larger bubbles.
I made a rocket from an empty toilet paper tube. It's short, but I can extend it later when I finish those paper towels...
Anyhoo, I took some pix of my apparatus and put them together in another animated gif. The hefty amount of hot glue on the bottom is due to leakage. It just won't stop completely... *sigh*. It's not connected to power in the pictures, but you can see the translucent blue-green buildup around one nail which turned black and rusty, and the other one which has turned whitish. No balloon loaded, either.
The thing used to be supported by just the nails sticking out of the bottom and two cardboard fins. The fins could break, bend, or soak up the leaked water and fall apart. So, I built a k'nex enclosure for it. The yellow levers flip upward to release the pressure on the sides of the bottle, so it can be removed.
Thar she blows:How has it been 15 yearsComment
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