materials and also what you can do with it

To make the hydrogen we are going to use aluminium or aluminium depending on where you are from.

Sodium hydroxide or lye and water

Some 6mm or 1/4 inch tubing a large soda bottle

and a heat proof flask with a rubber stopper The hydrogen is created in the flask and its

an exothermic reaction so it heats up rapidly. This creates water vapour which can carry

traces of the sodium hydroxide. To remove as much of this as possible we pass the gas

through a bubbler which is the soda bottle filled with water.

It also helps to prevent any flames passing back down the tubing and exploding the flask.

So first we cut two lengths of pipe, sand the top of the soda bottle, drill two holes

through the soda bottle cap and enlarge them with a step drill until the pipes just fit

through. The longer of the two pipes should just reach

the bottom of the soda bottle and thats the one that connects to the stopper on the heatproof

flask. Next we glue the pipes in places using epoxy

adhesive. The pipe connects to a glass soda straw, which

is pushed through the rubber stopper. Heat the pipe to make it more flexible and

then push the pipe over the glass soda straw. To store the hydrogen we are going to make

a system that displaces the water from a lower bottle into a higher bottle.

To do that we are going to need two largw soda bottles, some 6mm or 1/4 inch tubing,

a non return or check valve, and a tap used for aquarium airlines and some hard plastic

party straws. Firstly cut three lengths of the party straw,

sand the soda bottle lid inside and out

drill three holes through the lid and then enlarge the holes with a step drill

until the straws can just fit through sand the bottom of the shorter straw and the

middle of the two longer straws Fit the straws through the lid

Mix some epoxy adhesive and glue the straws inside and outside the

lid cut another 5cm or 2 inch section of straw

sand the base of the second soda bottle drill a hole through it

enlarge the hole with a step drill sand the base of the straw and fit it into

the hole using epoxy adhesive glue the straw into place

For the second soda bottle lid we do the same again with a single 5cm length of straw

Cut a length of pipe to reach all the way to the bottom of the first soda bottle

Using some heat to make the pipe flexible Fit the pipe to one of the two longer straws

Cut a length of pipe and push it onto the tap

and then push the other end onto the short straw of the first soda bottle

Push another length of pipe onto the other end of the tap

Cut a 40cm or 16inch length of tubing and connect it to the second long straw. The other

end of the tube is connected to thenon return check valve

Cut a 20cm or 8inch length of tube and connect it to the first long straw

This is the straw that has a pipe connected to the other side

Now connect the other end of the tube to the base of the second soda bottle

To mount the soda bottles wrap some steel wire around the neck of each soda bottle to

form a hook Finally connect the output pipe from the gas

generation bubbler to the non return check valve

Attach the soda bottles to a length of wood using screw eyes

Fill the bubbler with water until it's 3/4 full and the bottom collection bottle until

it is almost full That's the equipment ready but before we go

further forward, sodium hydroxide is extremely corrosive and can cause you serious harm so

we need to wear protective gloves, clothes and eyewear.

With that in mind I measured out 20g of sodium hydroxide, scrunched up some aluminium foil

Then I added 400ml of distilled water into the heatproof container and slowly added the

sodium hydroxide Once that was dissolved

I added the balls of aluminium foil and replaced the rubber stopper

The reaction starts of slowly at first with a small but steady stream of hydrogen passing

through the bubbler As production increases the hydrogen is stored

in the bottle on the left and the water displaced into the bottle above it

Once the storage bottle is full, the excess hydrogen bubbles up through the top expansion

bottle and we can collect it by securing a 40 litre

trash bag to the lid with an elastic band now we have some hydrogen and this is the

fun bit so we are going to need a face shield and

ear protectors I have added some soapy water to this cup

and turning on the tap produces hydrogen bubbles and I can ignite them with a barbeque lighter

Let do it again capturing it in slow motion So these bubbles are hydrogen rather than

the hydrogen oxygen mix that you would get form electrolysis

and thats the reason its burning rather than exploding

While I was burning the bubbles the trash bag has continued to inflate

SO I have tied up the bottom and attached some fishing line

and its just floating there But you are not watching this to see balloons

float so ... This is an empty egg shell with a hole in

the top and bottom I am filling it with hydrogen and keeping

some tape over the top to stop the hydrogen leaking out

I light the top hole and as the hydrogen burns it pulls oxygen in through the bottom hole

creating an explosive mixture That was a pringles can filled with hydrogen

and a bit of flour This is in slow motion and if you look carefully

you can see that the flour partially ignites This is a 4 pint plastic milk carton filled

with hydrogen and its working in the same way as the egg

The force form this was incredible blowing out the sides and the top of the milk jug

Finally I made a stove froma coupl eof coke cans

It has three holes in the top for burners and it is filled with fiberglass insulation

Thats it for now if you like this project then you might like some of my others please

subscribe checkout my website at techydiy.org

Thanks for watching and I will see you again next time