Katelyn Tsipiras: Making Hydrogen at Home
PLEASE NOTE: FOR KIDS FOLLOWING ALONG FROM HOME, SUPERVISION IS ESSENTIAL
To get an explosion big enough to send a rocket into space we need rocket fuel, made of HYDROGEN. Next time you want to travel to outer space, don’t take your rocket to a refuelling station! Instead, make your hydrogen at home with this simple experiment, using things you can find around your house.
Recommended age: 8-13 years
In this demonstration, Katelyn will step step through how to make a hydrogen cell so you can follow along from home. Please note that all children (and some adults!) should be supervised.
You will need:
- A clear plastic or glass container (deep enough to fit your foil, long enough to fit the batteries end-to-end, and wide enough that your plastic cutlery can sit across the top without falling in)
- Aluminium foil (2 pieces about the depth of your container)
- Fully-charged batteries (3-4 AA batteries should do the trick)
- Plastic cutlery (2-4 should do depending on how many batteries you have)
- Salt
- Sticky tape
- Water (a jug might make things easier, but this is not essential)
- Dishwashing liquid (optional)
Note that this activity has some fiddly parts and involves creating a (small) electric current – ALL AGES ARE WELCOME, BUT SUPERVISION IS ESSENTIAL.
You can also watch a recording of the talk here on our Facebook page (see the 'Astronomy at Home' playlist).