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Water movement during electrolysis
Mr Whippy - 20/5/20 at 06:39 AM

Ok so I admit this is a bit nerdy, but been using electrolysis for years now and its always fascinated me just how much the water moves about and what is causing this.

So I took a 30min time lapse of it last evening while cleaning a fuel filler thing and yeah wow it really moves about.
So my question is what is moving the water? All the tiny bubbles or electric fields? I see the swirls is that a sign of a magnetic field???

There is an iron rod on the bottom running the length of the tub

Any ideas?

Youtube linky

[Edited on 20/5/20 by Mr Whippy]

02GF74 - 20/5/20 at 06:50 AM

My money is on convection currents.

Mr Whippy - 20/5/20 at 06:51 AM

hadn't thought of that

02GF74 - 20/5/20 at 06:55 AM

I suspect you are throwing a fair amount of energy , most of it wasted ad heat. Have you measured water temperature at the start and end?

I can't see it being magnetism.

Mr Whippy - 20/5/20 at 07:03 AM

I've not taken any temp measurements though the water never seems to be warm or the metal when removed. It's a 16 amp charger and the water is just full of iron particles. At this point the part has actually already been taken out, jet washed and is about 99% spotless, I just put it back in to get that last 1% and yet it still churns about just the same.

cliftyhanger - 20/5/20 at 07:30 AM

Electrolysis involve the movement of charged particles in the "water"
The water is not pure, but is a solution of dissolved stuff, whatever you have used.
example, if you used common salt (sodium chloride) then that splits into positive charged sodium particles (ions) which will move towards the negative terminal, and the chloride is negatively charged, so goes towards the positive terminal.

So there are charged particles moving in both directions, and a substantial amount. That will causing some of the movement.

The heating aspect will be a contributor too, but much of the energy used will be the chemical reactions.

(I have tried to keep it simple, it is a bit more complex but hopefully that explains it)

[Edited on 20/5/20 by cliftyhanger]

jps - 20/5/20 at 12:15 PM

quote:
Originally posted by cliftyhanger
There are charged particles moving in both directions, and a substantial amount. That will causing some of the movement.
[Edited on 20/5/20 by cliftyhanger]


Interesting vid, I have pretty similar movement in mine, although I have a dustbin which I fill with water - and then four lengths of rebar around the side which go down vertically like legs of a stool from the top to the bottom. I then hang the part to be 'derusted' in the centre of the bin. I had assumed it was the back and forth movement between the cathode and anode, but you have the same kind of movement although your cathode is flat along the bottom of the tub...?