I've got my own little set up goingI'm using salt water and a copper wire for the hydrogen side, but an Aluminum wire for the oxygen sideThe reaction went a lot faster then it normally does for me, but the liquid in the jar turned a white cloudy color, like there was something in italso, when I exploded the hydrogen and oxygen (I think, it could have also been chlorine from the NaCl in the water) there was a faded blueish gooey substence on the side of the jarWhat could that be? and what is the white stuff in the water?
I have a charcoal grill with diamond plate alluminum how can i get it to shine again? I used my steam mop and rag it got most but not all?
Acid is a slow burn on some metals, aluminum tends to turn black when burned where iron turns red when it rusts or burnsI'd say the hf acid left some slight burn marks on your rails.
You got a lot going on there I'm afraidThe blueish substance is from your copper wireThe wire should be vinyl covered and terminate on an electrode like a carbon from a D size battery You are getting multiple reactions with your setupThe electrolysis is separating the water into hydrogen and oxygen but it is also separating the NaCl into chlorine and sodiumYour hydrogen gas is partially mixing with the chlorine and forming hydrochloric acid which is eating away your copper wire and putting copper ions into the solutionAlso the Na from the separation is immediately rereacting with the water and strips off one hydrogen from each H2O molecule to make your H2 gas, but it leaves a very alkaline -OH hydroxyl group which is very basic and in search of your Aluminum wire which it reacts with to form aluminum hydroxide which is the white powder your seeing in the waterI'm not sure about the gooeyness unless you invented a new substance which might be a combination of NaOH2 ,Aluminum hydroxide and copperTo avoid this in the future try insulated (speaker wire) copper wire on carbon electrodes(just cut two D flashlight batteries apart) wrap the wire around the electrodes and drip candlewax or gluegun onto the exposed copper wire at the electrodesStir borax washing soda in water for your electrolyte or pure lye (drano crystals)
