Electrolytic water decomposition 8th November 2021 Angela Kafka

Afrida Alam
Anfisa Rapotina
Experiment 8 Electrolytic water decomposition according to Hoffmann

Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Theory....................................................................................................................................................2
Material.................................................................................................................................................2
Methods.................................................................................................................................................2
Results....................................................................................................................................................4
Discussion..............................................................................................................................................5
Electrolytic water decomposition 8th November 2021 Angela Kafka
Afrida Alam
Anfisa Rapotina

Introduction
The aim of the experiment was to determine Aim the Faraday Constant.

Theory
For this experiment the following formulas were needed:

Formula Explanation
pV =nRT p … pressure [Pa]
V … Volume of gas [m 3 ¿
n … amount of substance [mol]
R … Gas constant (8.341
Pa ¿ m3∗K−1 ¿ mol−1 ¿
T … Temperature [K]
1 I … current [A]
F=I ･ t ･
n t … time [s]
n … amount
I ∗t∗RT Linked with ideal gas law
F= [
pV
As
]
mol

P=U∗I P…Power [Watt]

U…Voltage [V]
I…current [A]

Material
• DC power supply
• Multimeter
• Wattmeter
• Hoffmann’s water decomposition apparatus
• blue and red cables

Methods
To start the experiment, we must set up the instruments and check whether they function well. The
DC power supply is set to 5V, because the multimeter then gives you approximately 10V.

Overall we have to do 4 rounds, each round has a duration of 15minutes. Our method of the
experiment was, one must catch the switching time of the Wattmeter and the Watt, the other
spectator, examines the Volume and the Watt. Both will be written down separately and then
compared and put into an Excel list.

Before we start with round 1, a test round must be carried out, as mentioned above, to check
whether the instruments function well. This test round had duration of 10 minutes and we set the DC
to 5V and the multimeter showed approximately a value of 10V.
Electrolytic water decomposition 8th November 2021 Angela Kafka
Afrida Alam
Anfisa Rapotina
1. Round:

To begin, it must be stated that the Volume of the Cathode and the Anode aren’t equal. The
Anode had a Volume of 10.4ml and the Cathode had a Volume of 10.6 ml. Again we set the DC to
5V and the multimeter showed approximately a value of 10V.We were able to make a side
observation, which was the following: In the Cathode the air bubbles were rising faster and in the
Anode the air bubbles were rising slower. The final Volume of the Cathode was 12.60ml and of
the Anode 12ml, after 15 minutes. The Average of the Power was 0.3 Watts, with the standard
deviation of approximately 0.004. All values are shown in Figure 1.

2. Round:

It must be stated that the Volume of the Cathode and the Anode aren’t equal again. The Anode
had a Volume of 12.1ml and the Cathode had a Volume of 12.8ml. Again, we set the DC to 5V and
the multimeter showed approximately a value of 10V. The final Volume of the Cathode was
15.4ml and of the Anode 13.4ml, after 15 minutes. The Average of the Power was approximately
0.3 Watts, with the standard deviation of approximately 0.003. All values are shown in Figure 2.

3. Round:

For this round we wanted to apply approximately 15V.The DC was set to 7.5V. Our initial Volume
of the Cathode was 10.6ml and the Anode was 10.8ml. The final Volume of the Cathode was
15.8ml and of the Anode 13.2ml, after 15 minutes. The Average of the Power was precisely 0.81
Watts, with the standard deviation of about 0.007. All values are shown in Figure 3.

4. Round:

In this round we applied again about 15V. Here the DC was set to 7.5V. As well as in round 3 our
initial Volume of the Cathode was 10.6ml and the Anode was 10.8ml. The final Volume of the
Cathode was 15ml and of the Anode 13.2ml, after 15 minutes. The Average of the Power was
precisely 0.8 Watts, with the standard deviation of approximately 0.007. All values are shown in
Figure 4.

Results
In Microsoft Excel, we used the formulas listed above to determine our results.
1st round: V [ml] Time [min:sec] Watt 1st round: V [ml] Time [min:sec] Watt
(Cathode) 10.40 15:00 0.30 (Anode) 10.6 15:00 0.30
11.20 9:20 0.30 10.6 9:20 0.30
11.20 8:20 0.30 11 8:20 0.30
11.40 7:38 0.30 11.2 7:38 0.30
11.60 6:58 0.29 11.4 6:58 0.29
12.00 5:51 0.29 11.6 5:51 0.29
12.20 3:52 0.29 11.8 3:52 0.29
12.60 1:07 0.29 12 1:07 0.29
Average: 0.30 Average: 0.30
Standard deviation: 0.003758 Standard deviation: 0.003758
Current [A]: 0.03 Current [A]: 0.03

Figure 1: List of Measurements of 1st round

Electrolytic water decomposition 8th November 2021 Angela Kafka
Afrida Alam
Anfisa Rapotina
2nd round V [ml] Time [min:sec] Watt 2nd round V [ml] Time [min:sec] Watt
(Cathode): 12.8 15:00 0.301 (Anode): 12.1 15:00 0.301
12.8 12:18 0.301 12.2 12:18 0.301
13 11:58 0.3 12.2 11:58 0.3
13.1 11:32 0.299 12.2 11:32 0.299
13.2 11:00 0.298 12.3 11:00 0.298
13.4 10:36 0.297 12.4 10:36 0.297
13.6 9:57 0.296 12.5 9:57 0.296
13.8 9:00 0.295 12.6 9:00 0.295
14.4 7:10 0.294 13 7:10 0.294
15 4:08 0.293 10.2 4:08 0.293
15.4 1:28 0.292 13.4 1:28 0.292
Average: 0.296909 Average: 0.296909
Standard deviation: 0.003177 Standard deviation: 0.003177
Current [A]: 0.029691 Current [A]: 0.029691
Figure 2: List of Measurements of 2nd round
3rd round:V [ml] Time [min:sec] Watt 3rd round:V [ml] Time [min:sec] Watt
(Cathode) 10.6 15:00 0.82 (Anode) 10.8 15:00 0.82
10.8 14:15 0.811 11 14:15 0.811
10.8 14:05 0.81 11 14:05 0.81
11 13:56 0.809 11 13:56 0.809
11.1 13:40 0.808 11 13:40 0.808
11.2 13:36 0.807 11.1 13:36 0.807
11.3 13:32 0.806 11.1 13:32 0.806
11.4 13:08 0.805 11.2 13:08 0.805
11.4 12:50 0.804 11.3 12:50 0.804
11.6 12:39 0.803 11.4 12:39 0.803
11.8 12:07 0.802 11.6 12:07 0.802
11.9 11:00 0.801 11.6 11:00 0.801
12 11:10 0.8 11.6 11:10 0.8
12.4 10:24 0.799 11.6 10:24 0.799
12.8 9:32 0.798 11.8 9:32 0.798
13 8:52 0.797 12 8:52 0.797
13.4 8:03 0.796 12.2 8:03 0.796
13.8 7:17 0.795 12.2 7:17 0.795
13.8 6:44 0.794 12.4 6:44 0.794
14.2 5:41 0.793 13 5:41 0.793
15.2 4:23 0.792 13.2 4:23 0.792
15.8 2:03 0.791 13.2 2:03 0.791
Average: 0.801864 Average: 0.801864
Standard deviation: 0.007285 Standard deviation: 0.007285
Current [A]: 0.053458 Current [A]: 0.053458
Figure 3: List of Measurements of 3rd round
Electrolytic water decomposition 8th November 2021 Angela Kafka
Afrida Alam
Anfisa Rapotina
4th round: V [ml] Time [min:sec] Watt 4th round: V [ml] Time [min:sec] Watt
(Cathode) 10.6 15:00 0.832 (Anode) 10.8 15:00 0.832
11 13:37 0.817 11 13:37 0.817
11 13:29 0.816 11 13:29 0.816
11 13:18 0.815 11.2 13:18 0.815
11.2 13:04 0.814 11.2 13:04 0.814
11.2 12:45 0.813 11.2 12:45 0.813
11.4 12:16 0.812 11.2 12:16 0.812
11.4 12:00 0.811 11.2 12:00 0.811
11.6 11:43 0.81 11.4 11:43 0.81
12 10:40 0.809 11.6 10:40 0.809
12.4 9:41 0.808 11.8 9:41 0.808
12.8 8:35 0.807 12 8:35 0.807
13.2 7:08 0.806 12.2 7:08 0.806
13.4 6:10 0.805 12.4 6:10 0.805
13.8 5:05 0.804 12.4 5:05 0.804
14 4:25 0.803 12.6 4:25 0.803
14.2 3:45 0.802 12.8 3:45 0.802
14.6 2:51 0.801 13 2:51 0.801
15 1:42 0.8 13 1:42 0.8
15 0:49 0.799 13.2 0:49 0.799
Average: 0.8 Average: 0.8
Standard deviation: 0.007668 Standard deviation: 0.007668

Figure 4: List of Measurements of 4th round

Faraday constant: 96 485

F (Cathode) [As*mol-1] F (Anode) [As*mol-1]

1. Round: 51 527 54 093
2. Round: 41 700 47 989
3. Round: 72 603 86 885
4. Round: 77 885 88 525

Discussion
The experiment showed very clearly how important repetition and re-execution are for
measurement accuracy. It is important to have in mind that the setup can also be defect. To
recognise this test rounds are essential.

Another interesting observation was when the glass piston was stuck during the heating process, it
overcomes friction to get back to normal air pressure.

When comparing round 2 with round 3, it has shown that the values are in the same range. After the
big jump, the values for the volume increase always around 2ml per 0.1 °C. This can be seen, if you
compare Figure 2 with Figure 3 in the range between 76.7 °C to 86.7°C and 81.8°C to 86.8°C.