How to Create Green Hydrogen

       Now we know the benefits of hydrogen as well as what it can be used for. But how is hydrogen actually extracted and what is it extracted from? As of our current level of technology, the most common way to extract hydrogen is to get it from water using a process called electrolysis. 

What is electrolysis? So we all know that water is also called H2O, or it is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, forming one water molecule. Now what does electrolysis do? It splits the two types of atoms in the water using electricity. We can see this diagram here: 

Once the process of electrolysis begins, electrons, the negatively charged particles in atoms start moving in circles through anode, cathode, and power source. Electrons are negatively charged particles that come from the molecules in the water. For this experiment, there is salt mixed in the water to make the water more ionic. Ions are atoms with a positive or negative electric charge. Cations have positive charge and anions contain a negative charge. Salt is made from Sodium and Chlorine which is Na and Cl respectively. So, when the electron exchange occurs, the Sodium (Na) cations move toward the cathode and starts to give off electrons, causing its net charge to be positive (as seen in the diagram). On the other side at the anode, the Cl anions gain electrons coming from the cathode. This makes the Cl to have a negative net charge (as seen in the diagram). Due to the electron exchange, the water also splits into hydrogen and oxygen or 2H2 and O2, followed by the hydrogen moving toward the cathode. The water splits into 2H2 and O2 instead of H2 and O because both elements need to be bonded in pairs of two in order to be stable. The 2 in front of the H2 represents the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen produced, because one water molecule is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Lastly, the hydrogen gets released into the air from the side of the cathode which can be trapped for future use. Instead of salt, we can use soduim hydroxide (lye), baking soda, and many other ionic substances that easily dissolve in water to conduct this experiment efficiently.