Construction of Prototype

Procedure:

Supplies for the design

For the first phase of our experimenting we are constructing a submarine prototype using a 2-L bottle. We cut a rectangular hole in the side of the bottle to access the interior. In our first design, we used electrical tape to tape two AAA batteries to the top of the bottle. We then took spare copper wires and electrical taped them to the positive and negative ends to the batteries. This totaled four copper wires. These were then lead into the water. The materials we used were a plastic bottle, copper wires, utility knife, electrical tape, 2 AAA batteries, and a 9-volt battery. 

The first design

Experiment 1:

This experiment was using the AAA battery setup. For some reason, either the batteries were not enough voltage (1.5 Volts each to total 3 Volts) or the connections to the poles was not solid enough. In result, nothing happened.

Experiment 2:

This experiment, we substituted the AAA batteries for a 9-volt battery. This reduced the wires from four to two. As shown in the video, the reaction was occurring. 

The electrolysis system

The 9-volt battery and copper wires

Conclusion:

We concluded from our experiment that there needs to be a higher voltage in order for the reaction to work better. This will help with our readings of the amount of volume of gas created. A new wire and possibly an electrode will be used to allow the reaction to run more efficiently. This will be either aluminum, graphite or any other metal that is more efficient (experiments will be ran). There is also an idea that a controlled amount of salt will be added to the water. This will allow the water to be even more conductive due to the extra ions in the water.