Question
Question: What happens when hydrogen combines with oxygen in the presence of an electric current?...
What happens when hydrogen combines with oxygen in the presence of an electric current?
Solution
Water is a gaseous, liquid, and solid material that is made up of the chemical elements hydrogen and oxygen. It is one of the most abundant and necessary compounds. At room temperature, it is a tasteless and odourless liquid with the essential ability to dissolve a wide range of other compounds. Water's versatility as a solvent is critical to the survival of living creatures.
Complete answer:
Electrolysis is a chemistry and manufacturing process that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive a chemical reaction that would otherwise be non-spontaneous. Electrolysis is important in the commercial separation of elements from naturally occurring sources like ores using an electrolytic cell. The decomposition potential is the voltage needed for electrolysis to occur. The word "lysis" means "to split or split," so electrolysis may be described as "electrical breakdown".
Water electrolysis is the process of breaking down water into oxygen and hydrogen gas using electricity. This hydrogen gas can be used as hydrogen fuel, or it can be combined with oxygen to make oxyhydrogen gas, which is used in welding and other applications. Electrolysis, also known as water splitting, involves a minimum potential difference of 1.23 volts. A reduction reaction occurs in pure water at the negatively charged cathode, with electrons (e) from the cathode being given to hydrogen cations to form hydrogen gas.
The acid-balanced half reaction is as follows:
2H+(aq)+2e−→H2(g)
An oxidation reaction occurs at the positively charged anode, releasing oxygen gas and supplying electrons to the anode to complete the circuit.
2H2O(I)→O2(g)+4H+(aq)+4e−
The final decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen is the same as either half reaction pair is combined.
2H2O(I)→2H2(g)+O2(g)
As a result, the amount of hydrogen molecules formed is double that of oxygen molecules. Assuming that all gases have the same temperature and pressure, the emitted hydrogen gas has double the amount of the produced oxygen gas. The amount of electrons pushed into the water is double that of hydrogen molecules produced and four times that of oxygen molecules generated.
Note:
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that uses a pair of redox reactions to transform the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidising agent (often oxygen) into electricity. Fuel cells vary from most batteries in that they need a constant supply of fuel and oxygen (typically from air) to keep the chemical reaction going, while chemical energy in a battery is usually derived from metals and their ions or oxides that are already present in the battery, with the exception of flow batteries. As long as fuel and oxygen are available, fuel cells can generate energy indefinitely.